


We'll Always Have New Orleans

by Yokan



Category: The Vampire Diaries & Related Fandoms, The Vampire Diaries (TV)
Genre: Alternate Canon, Angsty Schmoop, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, F/M, Road Trips, Temporarily human
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-04-06
Updated: 2019-11-08
Packaged: 2020-01-05 12:13:15
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 14
Words: 122,388
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18365789
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Yokan/pseuds/Yokan
Summary: Caroline wakes up in a world where everything looks exactly the same, only nothing really is. For starters, she's no longer a vampire. No one else in Mystic Falls has ever heard of witches, vampires and werewolves - no one except Klaus, who woke up just as human and is twice as angry about it. Their search for answers and a way out takes them all the way to New Orleans, and Caroline could never anticipate how much this crazy fake world was about to alter her reality forever. Set right after TVD 4x18.





	1. Rewrite

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I do not own any of these characters (clearly, cause things would be a hell of a lot different if I did). You should know that English is not my first language and this story has not been beta'ed, so please be kind. I apologize for anything you might find.
> 
> I have written several other pieces since I first uploaded WAHNOLA, but this remains my very first TVD/TO story. I took it down for personal reasons and because I didn't think I would be completing it and didn't want to leave an unfinished work up. But I have since managed to keep going and I'm very close to writing the finale now, so I decided it was time to celebrate a little and put it back up. If you've read this before, it only went through minor editing (this chapter anyway, I have gone through the others yet, but I'll let you guys know if there are any significant changes).
> 
> I hope there are still people out there interested in reading this story. As always, your feedback, comments and messages are my greatest motivation for writing. So if you do enjoy this, please let me know. I very much appreciate it!
> 
> This story is set right after episode 4x18 of The Vampire Diaries, 'American Gothic'. It takes a detour from canon, but then it falls right back into the show. It'll go all the way to season 4's finale. There will be no mention of magical babies, though. They don't exist in my version of canon.

Ever since she became a vampire, Caroline Forbes has come to appreciate the glory of the few precious moments right after waking up in a way she never had before.

The thing with vampires is that they don't actually _have_ to sleep. They don't feel tired, not in the same way a normal person does. Exhaustion for them is much more of a mental state than it is a physical need. Vampires can go on for days, months even, without a single night of sleep and never get so much as a dark circle under their eyes. They're perpetually well rested, a trait which Caroline personally holds in very high esteem.

It's just that sleeping is a very welcome distraction for them. They just _shut off_. It's the only time vampires get to disconnect from the permanent state of over-awareness caused by their heightened senses. It can be very psychologically draining to be so _alert_ all the goddamn time. Everything is overwhelming; noises, lights, smells, feelings. Not that she's complaining, mind you. Caroline is probably the only one out of all her friends - well, if you disregard Damon, which she does - who thinks she's much better off as an immortal blood-sucking beast than she ever was as a human being.

Still, she'd be lying if the said there aren't any downsides to being a vampire. It's madness sometimes. Everything is _too much_. Caroline is very good at reining herself in and staying in control even when all hell is breaking lose, but even someone like her needs a break every once in a while.

In the middle of that all-consuming insanity, those seconds when she's still stuck in that semi-comatose state, before her brain is completely back on, when her awareness goes no further than the comfort of her bed, the warmth of her duvet, the light scent of softener and something else that is so very distinctively _home_ on her pillows - those are _the best_ moments.

For just that brief period of time, Caroline can forget that the world around her is always invariably falling apart. Everything is fine and nothing hurts. It's just her, her bed and her tiny little small town life again. It fills her heart with a simple and unaltered kind of happiness that she can't quite seem to find anywhere else in her life these days, doesn't think she'll ever find again. It's something of the past, of when she was still only a teenager, before werewolves and vampires and doppelgangers came barging in, leaving no stone unturned in Mystic Falls.

Except for this short, glorious instant, that is. This they can't touch. But it lasts for no more than a few seconds, and then it's over, her vampire brain back to working at full-speed, reminding her that she has places to be and cannot afford to sleep in.

Caroline jumps out of bed and checks the time on her cell phone. How is it possible that she's late already? She's _never_ late.

Being in charge of three different prom committees was perhaps a bit of a stretch, even for her, what with the supernatural catastrophes that tends consume the rest of her life. But this is her senior year, likely the _only_ senior year she'll ever have (God forbid her from ending up like Stefan), and it's supposed to be _epic_.

As far as she's concerned, no one in the whole of Mystic Falls has the required abilities to put together the prom for the ages she expects hers to be. Caroline plans on living for at least another few dozen centuries and she'd like to be able to remember her prom with gusto, thank you very much. So no, she cannot leave anything in the hands of anyone else. The whole supernatural shebang is just going to have to learn to share her precious time with the human part of her life.

Call her a control freak, see if she cares.

Elena may not have her emotions at the moment, and Bonnie might be all caught up with an ancient evil dude blackmailing her into performing a spell that may or may not be the doom of pretty much everything and everyone, and maybe Matt is all busy wallowing in self-pity, still blaming himself for Elena becoming a vampire and then flipping off her humanity and becoming a pain in everyone's asses. So what if right now no one's really going to acknowledge the effort she's been putting into giving them the senior year of their dreams? They'll come around in due time (and thank her, hopefully, because Caroline _definitely_ expects to receive some appreciation here for a change).

Prom is merely a week away and there are still details to be decided on and Caroline is frankly going crazy. Between color palettes and dress fittings and Silas, she's barely had any time to breathe. Her blood bag supply has never been lower. She's so _hungry_ all the time she's afraid she'll end up feeding on the other committee members one of these days, particularly if one of them decides to test her patience. There's only so much she can take and, not to sound like a bitch, but some of them really do deserve to get bitten.

Not in a million years a human Caroline would've been able to pull this one off. She was _good_ as a human, probably way above average, but being ahead of prom preparations, graduating and dodging death at the same time requires a certain level of multi-tasking greatness that is simply not available in the realm of ordinary people. Thank God for fangs (and blood donors, _especially_ blood donors).

She's supposed to be at school twenty minutes ago, preparing some material to show the rest of the committee for some last minute decisions, but she's _late_ , and Caroline simply doesn't have the time to be twenty minutes late, goddamn it. Every minute counts.

Right before she storms into the bathroom, however, Caroline stops. Something clicks, like a tiny little voice whispering in the back of her mind, telling her to pay attention, to look closer. All of a sudden, she's very aware that something is not quite right. A strange kind of perception that wasn't there until it was. She just _knows_. It's on the tip of her tongue.

Caroline turns around, taking in the sight of her unmade bed, and is struck by an odd sense of recollection. She can remember waking up today before. For this particular committee gathering. And with so much time to spare that she curled her hair before heading out. It probably wouldn't be weird for her to feel like she's done this before because her mornings have all been more or less the same rushed chaos for a while now. But this is... Strangely specific. Not just some faint sense of familiarity, but an actual memory. It's a hell of a déjà vu.

Being it Mystic Falls, it's entirely possible that this isn't down to mere coincidence, although Caroline really hopes that it is. She cannot afford to be stuck in Groundhog Day right now. So she writes a mental note to call Bonnie and ask for her professional witch opinion on the matter as soon as she's done with her committee obligations. Priorities and stuff.

It doesn't escape Caroline just how insane she must seem to everyone else right now. And it's hard to disagree. Silas is perhaps the greatest threat they've ever faced, even greater than the Klaus, and yet here she is, taking time to discuss flower arrangements and choose photographs like it's just another day in high school and they're not at any immediate risk of extinction, especially with a bunch of very dead and very angry supernatural beings about to descend upon them like a plague. A couple of bitter Mikaelsons, for instance. Or 12 witches on a revenge mission.

Some people might say Caroline isn't handling the guilt very well, instead choosing to deny it altogether when in reality it is eating away at her. But some people are also so bad at dealing with pain and grief that they choose to turn off their humanity switches, so screw them, really. Caroline prefers to think that she's compartmentalizing. The part of her that feels for what she's done and is terrified of the act she played in aiding Silas' plan is just not currently available. It's that simple.

She's under the hot spray of her shower when she finally notices that déjà vus are going to be the least of her concerns for today.

Her daylight ring is gone.

Now _that_ is a problem.

The ring has practically become an extension of her, she doesn't even feel it anymore, doesn't really notice it's there. Or not there, apparently. And she can't, for the love of everything that is sacred, remember when was the last time that she knew for certain that she had her ring. She was out during the day yesterday, so she _definitely_ had it then. But what about after that?

_Ok. Calm down, Caroline. There has to be a perfectly good explanation for this._

She rushes out of the shower, puts on the first thing she finds and starts looking. It could've fallen off her finger while she was asleep, although it is highly unlikely. It _never_ happened before, not even during more _agitated_ nights, so to speak. But whatever. It could be. Except the ring is nowhere on, under or near her bed, so no.

She moves on to her nightstand, her drawers, her closet, her jewelry box. She checks her purse, her backpack, the coat she was wearing the day before, the inside of her shoes. Nothing. The living room, then. Her mother's room. Bathroom. The drain, maybe. The kitchen. Caroline turns the house upside down with the same level of diligence she used to find her prom dress. The ring is nowhere to be found. How the hell did she lose something that she _never_ takes off?

Caroline starts to mentally retrace her steps the previous night. She spent some time at Klaus' place when he thought he'd been staked by Silas, and she wouldn't put it past him to screw with her like that, but it was still early when she left, so it couldn't have been him. Then she went back to school, where she oversaw some prom stuff. But it couldn't have been there either because the sun wasn't completely set yet when she finished. Then she spent some time at the Grill, drinking with Matt, but she wasn't drunk, which suggests she would remember if she'd taken off her ring or notice if someone tried to take it from her. And then she went home. Didn't run into any skeevy figures, wasn't stopped by any of Mystic Falls' current resident villains, or anyone else for that matter.

Could someone have snuck into her room while she slept and _stolen_ the ring? Wouldn't she have felt tit?

"This can't be happening," she mutters under her breath as she rubs her temples with the ball of her fingers. "Think, Caroline. _Think_."

The ring might be in the car. Chances are slim to none, but it's the only place she hasn't checked. And also the only place she _can't_ check.

_Shit._

Caroline goes back to her room, makes sure not even a little bit of light is coming in through the window and calls the one person who'll be able to help her.

She made a personal vow not to bother Bonnie with anything unless it was a matter of life or death. Her friend needs a break. If there's anyone in town whose life is an even bigger mess than Caroline's right now, it's Bonnie - and unlike Elena, not by her own choice. She feels incredibly dumb calling her because she somehow managed to lose her most important possession, but it _is_ a matter of life or death.

She's already rehearsing her most heartfelt apology for getting herself into such a ridiculous situation when a very unexpectedly cheerful Bonnie picks up and completely disarms her.

"Hey, Care! Where are you? I thought we were supposed to meet before classes?"

Caroline eyebrows knit together. Is she forgetting more than she thinks? She didn't agree to meet Bonnie... Did she? Bonnie hasn't been to school in a while, understandably so. And, incidentally, it's been a while as well since Caroline last heard that tone of voice on her.

"Uhm... I didn't realize you were going to school."

"You practically threatened to kill us with your bare hands if we didn't show. Why wouldn't I come?"

"Ok, first, I've been threatening a lot of people, but I don't remember you being one of them. And second - I don't know, maybe because you have more important things on your mind right now?"

"Such as?"

"Jeremy? Silas? Twelve dead witches?"

Bonnie laughs on the other end. She actually _laughs_. "Long night, Caroline?"

"What?"

"Are you still drunk?"

"No. Are _you_?"

"I wish."

"Bonnie, what are you talking about?"

"Me? You're the one who's not making any sense. Where are you?"

Caroline feels tension start to thread in her stomach. She has a bad, _bad_ feeling about this.

"Home," she replies, with less certainty than she had a moment ago, looking around as though to make sure she really is in her room.

"Well, come to school! You're late."

"But I can't leave."

"Why not?"

"I don't have my daylight ring. I don't know how I lost it. Or if anyone took it from me. And now I'm trapped. Do you think this is Silas?"

"This Silas person again. Is he the one you were out with last night?"

"Bonnie," she admonishes, that tone that demands her friend to stop joking around right now because she's starting to get freaked out.

"I hope it's not someone you're seeing. The doc might forgive you for cheating on him, but I won't. He doesn't deserve that."

"The... what?" Caroline stops, takes a deep breath. Whatever's happened to her ring is probably connected to Bonnie suddenly not knowing anything about Silas and being concerned about her school attendance all over again. And who the hell is Doc? "Look, whatever. Can you help me? A need a new ring until I figure out what happened to mine."

"Uhm... Can't you just wear a different one?"

"I don't have another one, Bonnie!"

"You have tons of rings, Caroline."

"Not _daylight_ rings! Did you miss that part? I can't _leave_ the house, Bonnie. I need help."

"What's a daylight ring? Is that like one of those mood rings?"

Well, that just does it. The tension shifts into an awful twist of real worry. Something's _very_ wrong. Silas must've gotten to Bonnie and has her under some kind of spell. And since Caroline's the only currently available supernatural friend, he took her ring to keep her locked inside and unable to rush to Bonnie's aid.

She curses under her breath, already going through all her options. There aren't many that don't involve her going into spontaneous combustion.

"Caroline, are you ok?"

"Yes. Fine. But I need you to come here, ok?" If she can't go to Bonnie, then Bonnie's gonna have to come to where Caroline can keep a close eye on her without catching fire.

"To your house?"

"Of course."

"Classes are about to start."

"Screw classes! I need you to come to me. It's urgent!"

"Look... Is your mom home?" Bonnie asks with the tone of voice of someone who's talking to a mentally challenged child. Caroline is dead worried but she's also starting to get a little bit annoyed.

"No. I don't know. Why?"

"Should I call her? Maybe someone should come and stay with you."

" _You_ do it!"

"I can stop by after school if you want. And I can tell the rest of the committee that you're not feeling well."

"The _rest_? You're not in the committee."

"Jeez, Caroline. I know I'm not one of the most acting members, but you don't have to be rude."

Shit. What in the goddamn _hell_ is going on here?

"You know what?" Caroline says, channeling all the inner Miss Mystic Falls in her in order to remain calm and collected in the face of... whatever this is. Caroline doesn't even have a category for it, and she's got a category for _everything_. "I have to go. Bye, Bonnie."

She doesn't wait for a reply before she hangs up. Was that even really Bonnie? Does she prefer it to be Bonnie or some kind of evil impersonator from hell? Which is worse, that Silas has taken over her friend and turned her into a clueless puppet, or that he's replaced her with a half-wit doppelganger while he exploits the real Bonnie somewhere else? And is anyone else even aware that this is going on?

Oh, Caroline's _so_ going to _kill_ Elena when she gets her humanity back for leaving her alone with this while she goes skipping around giving zero fucks to everyone.

Ok, focus. Phone book. Who can she call? Elena is a no go, which means Stefan and Damon are likely out of reach as well. Matt wouldn't be of much help and would probably end up in actual mortal danger, if he isn't already. Tyler... Well. No.

Klaus' name crosses her mind for a whole of two seconds. He phone-stalked her into helping him when he thought he was dying, so he kind of owes her. But it's Klaus. Chances are, if there's a way for things to get worse, he'll find it. So no.

Stefan is probably her best shot.

"Hello?"

Caroline lets out a sigh of relief at his regular calm and slightly bored voice. "Stefan, thank God. Where are you?"

"School."

"What is going on that everyone's decided to go to school all of a sudden? I thought you were all past that."

"Well. We're close, I suppose. But not quite there yet."

"Whatever, I don't have time to chit-chat. Listen. Something's wrong with Bonnie. I think she might be under Silas' control. And my daylight ring is gone, which may or may not be related, but I can't leave the house either way."

"Wait. What? Who's Silas?"

"Oh no..." _No, no, no. Not Stefan, too! This can't be happening_

"I didn't understand a single thing you just said, Caroline. Maybe talk to Elena? Here."

There's a moment of silence and then, "Hi, Care." It's Elena. So clearly Elena that, for a split-second, Caroline almost forgets that everyone seems to have gone completely mad and nothing is making sense and just feels her chest filling with hope that her friend's finally back.

"Elena?"

"You sound surprised. Who did you think it would be?"

It's Elena's voice, Elena's bright, joyful voice, which Caroline loves so much and hasn't heard in a while. But it _can't_ be her. If she had flipped her emotions back on someone would've sent her a message, right? She would know by now. And if it looks like Elena, talks like Elena and acts like Elena but isn't Elena...

"Katherine?" she asks, suspiciously.

"Katherine? Who's Katherine?"

"Oh, dear God..."

"Is everything all right, Care?"

"I... Don't know."

"Are you coming to school today?"

"I don't think so." _I couldn't even if I wanted to._

"Do you want me to call someone?"

"Who?"

"Your boyfriend?"

"No! Why would you call him? He's left town, he can't come back. Don't get him involved."

A tiny part of Caroline wishes that she could rely on Tyler right now. God knows how desperately in need of some moral support she is. But Tyler hasn't replied to any of the 200 voice messages she's left him since he went away, and it's probably for the best, but if she says she hasn't harbored a little bit of resentment over it, she'd be lying. It's not like Klaus can monitor her phone calls. He probably wouldn't even pick up if she tried to ring him now.

"Oh. I didn't know that. Care, I'm so sorry. Did something happen between you two? You didn't break up... Did you?"

Well, fuck it. No one being able to remember Tyler's exile is too much for her. Caroline's used to being in a supporting role all the time and having all her issues relegated to a lesser category because they're usually not as big as Elena's or Bonnie's, but this is just insulting.

That is _not_ Elena. Just like it wasn't Bonnie on the phone before, and it was not Stefan either. Something really screwed up is going on.

"I have to go," she says curtly and hangs up again.

Caroline rubs her eyes and sags against the headboard of her bed. All sorts of bells are ringing inside her head. This is worse than she had thought at first.

What if everyone else has been somehow dominated by Silas and she's the only one left? What then? Caroline Forbes excels at a great many things, but being the savior of the supernatural world has never been amongst her strongest qualities. She's not the toughest vampire, or the most savvy and knowledgeable of them all. She can execute a plan to perfection any day, but the ideas usually come from someone else. Normally someone who's either lived at least 150 years more than her or who's in direct contact with spirits and ancient beings on the other side.

A thought suddenly occurs to her. It's completely crazy. But nothing seems to be making much sense today anyway, so maybe...

She looks at her curtains, all perfectly closed to keep the light from seeping in. Caroline approaches the window gingerly, like a hunter closing in on a prey.

She pulls the curtain a little open, allowing just a tiny sliver of sunlight into the room. Slowly, she reaches for the light with the tip of her finger, bracing herself for the pain and the blisters. But when sunlight finally touches her skin... Nothing happens.

Caroline puts a whole finger, and then her hand, her forearm under the sun, and then she pulls the whole curtain open and stands right in front of the window, momentarily blinded by the ominous white light. There's no pain. No burn. No nothing.

_Holy shit._

She runs straight to the kitchen, takes the first knife she can find and slashes the palm of her hand open, groaning loudly at the pain. Blood immediately starts gushing out in heaps. She stares intently at the ugly cut, willing the wound to close and the blood to stop flowing. A minute goes by, and then two, and the only change is that the throbbing on her hand seems to intensify with each passing second. She looks down at the pool of red forming next to her feet on the white kitchen floor and feels her head start to spin.

It's not the blood loss, though. It's the understanding that finally dawns on her. Caroline feels herself sink into the depth of despair, her breath faltering.

Somehow, she's not a vampire anymore.

The front door opens and moments later her mother's there, talking to her. Caroline presses her lips tightly together, trying to hold back the tears. Not her mom, too...

"I saw your car outside. Shouldn't you be at school? Caroline?" Liz freezes when she realizes what's happening, her eyes widening in real fear as she takes in the scene - her daughter, a knife and a pool of blood. "Caroline! What happened?!" In a blink, Sheriff Forbes is next to her, holding her wounded arm, taking the knife away from her hand and assessing the injury. "What did you do?"

"I cut myself," she says, and then, after a beat, "Accidentally."

Caroline looks pleadingly at her mother, silently begging her to not be like the others and notice the absurdity of that wound. She looks exactly like Liz Forbes, the same kind eyes, the same worry lines on her forehead. Even her perfume is the same. It's hard to believe it's not her because it so clearly _is_. Except that, like Bonnie, Stefan and Elena, she doesn't seem to get it either.

Caroline wants nothing more than to hug her mother and cry her eyes out because the world is all wrong and she hasn't got the faintest clue how to go about fixing it. But that's not her mother. It can't be.

She does not protest when her fake mother guides her into the bathroom and starts to clean her cut and bandage her hand. It burns like hell. Caroline's had broken bones that didn't hurt a fraction of this. Why couldn't she be a normal person and pierce a tiny little hole on the tip of her finger instead of slicing her hand open? Cuts and bruises hadn't mattered to her in such a long time she forgot how much of a bitch they could be.

"What's wrong with you?" her mother asks as she finishes wrapping the gauze tightly around her hand. "You seem off today. Different."

"I do feel a little different," she chokes out.

"Are you sick?"

"No. It's not sickness."

"Then what is it?" Caroline looks away from her, biting on the inside of her lip not to blurt it all out. "Don't tell me that you're... Caroline, you're not... pregnant, are you?"

She would've laughed at the absurdity of the suggestion that a _vampire_ might be pregnant if only she wasn't so goddamn miserable. And then she remembers that, technically, she's not a vampire anymore. "No, mom. I'm not pregnant."

"Are you sure?"

"100% sure."

"Good. I don't care how charming he is, you're too young to get married and have a baby right now. You have to go to college first. And don't give me that look, Caroline Forbes. You know exactly what I think about you dating older men."

"Older...?" What is her mom talking about? She's the same age as Tyler. Unless...

Elena is ok, Stefan is going to school again, Bonnie isn't a witch, she's not a vampire and not dating Tyler either, apparently.

Well, if this isn't hell, she doesn't know what else it can be.

 

x-x-x-x-x-x

 

In spite of her mother's insistence that she should stay at home, Caroline decides that she has to go to school. It's the only place she can think of where she might find a clue to begin deciphering what the hell is going on. It's a point in a game where she's fifty points behind, but it's a point nonetheless.

Doesn't matter how much she wants to curl up in bed and cry herself back to sleep in hopes that this is all just a freakishly realistic nightmare and she'll wake up in the right world next time, Caroline needs to do _something_. Not doing anything is not an option when she's the only one left with a shred of sanity still intact. And it won't stay like that for much longer if things don't start making sense very soon.

She hesitates a moment before stepping out of the house, afraid that it will all turn out to be a trap and she'll start burning as soon as she's far enough away from shelter. But nothing happens again. Ignoring the pang that shoots through her, she jumps into her car and drives away.

"You're late, Miss Forbes," the teacher says when she shows up at the door an hour after the class started.

"I'm so sorry. I had a small accident at home right before I left," she explains, lifting her arm to show her bandaged hand.

The teacher gives her a sympathetic look and nods. "Take your seat."

Bonnie doesn't even wait until she's settled to lean over and whisper "What happened to your hand?", concern etched onto every line of her face.

Caroline swallows down hard. As with her mother, Bonnie seems perfectly... _Bonnie_. Not a single hair out of place, not a hint of pretense on the way she looks all worried at Caroline's hand.

_Keep it together, Caroline. Keep it together..._

"It's just a cut."

"It looks bad."

"It's nothing. Just an accident."

Elena is sitting a few rows to her side and waves at Caroline as soon as their eyes meet. Nothing about the girl screams Katherine, but that wouldn't be the first time she successfully deceives everyone. Although Caroline can't for the life of her figure out why Katherine would impersonate Elena and then go to school and sit through an entire History lesson.

Stefan is also there, so absorbed in what the teacher is saying he doesn't even look her way.

Suddenly Caroline is not so sure that it was a good idea to come to school after all. She feels strangely vulnerable, doesn't know what to expect, but knows that she can't trust any of them. Silas opening the gates of hell don't seem like such a bad thing all of a sudden. It's better to know exactly who your enemies are than to be surrounded by all these familiar faces acting like complete strangers. It takes some very deep breaths for her not to run away screaming.

Bonnie and Elena are all over her as soon as the class is dismissed.

"What happened to your hand?" Elena asks.

"I just cut myself, it's nothing."

"We were worried about you, Care," Bonnie says. "Are you ok?"

"Yeah. Peachy." Her lips twist up into as much of a smile as she can muster.

Stefan approaches them and snakes his arms around Elena's waist, pulling her flush against him and placing a tender kiss on her neck. Like it's nothing. Like he does it every day. Like he hasn't been fighting his own brother tooth and nail for the past God knows how many months for the chance to do this, and losing.

"Are you ok, Caroline?" Elena asks, and she realizes she's been gaping at the two of them.

"Yeah. Of course. Perfect. I just need some... Air."

She grabs her bag and doesn't wait for the objections before walking out into the hall, but a second later Bonnie is there again, right behind her. God, she misses super speed...

"You're not fooling anyone, you know," Bonnie says.

"I don't know what you mean."

"I know there's something wrong. You're acting all strange today."

"Sorry."

"You don't have to apologize, but we're kind of worried. Whatever it is, you can tell us. We're your friends."

"I know, Bon." Well, since she decided to come to school, she might as well try to understand what's happening. Like why the hell Elena and Stefan are cozying up to each other again. "What happened to Damon?"

Bonnie frowns inquisitively. "Who?"

"Damon? Irritating, terrible sense of humor, thinks he's smarter than everyone, does that creepy thing with the eyes all the time... You know. The Salvatore we don't root for?"

"Salvatore?" Bonnie stares at her with a completely blank expression, and then, "Wait. Are you talking about Stefan's brother?"

"Of course. Do we know any other Salvatores?"

"I didn't realize you knew this one."

"Don't we all?"

"Considering he died ten years ago? No."

Caroline feels the floor disappear from under her feet. "Damon.... Is dead?"

The thought sets on her like a bomb. She wasn't exactly a fan of the guy, was vehemently on Team Stefan and frequently found herself wanting to punch him in the middle of that handsome face of his. Damon was a self-righteous a-hole more often than not, but that doesn't mean she wanted him _dead_.

"What is going on with you today, Caroline? It's like you woke up a different person."

 _Yes_ , she wants to say. _That's exactly what happened!_ She woke up in someone else’s life, someone else's skin, and she's having an impossible time trying to navigate it.

And now Damon is dead.

"Are you possessed?" Bonnie asks in a manner that makes it obvious that she's joking, but Caroline seriously considers it for a moment.

Maybe she's been looking at this all wrong. Maybe she's the one who's upside down, not everyone else. She could've knocked her head or had a stroke or something. Possession it not out of the realm of possibilities either, but considering vampires and witches don't seem to be a thing around here, it's less likely.

It's the only possible explanation. Clearly she's in the minority here. Maybe she did go to the Mystic Grill last night and had a lot more to drink than she remembers, fell down somewhere, knocked her head and this whole supernatural shenanigan is nothing more than a creation of her bruised brain.

She's starting to lose her mind, isn't she?

 

x-x-x-x-x-x

 

The rest of the day goes by just as abnormally ordinary as it began. There's not even a hint or mention of anything even remotely supernatural. Caroline barely utters another word, doesn't trust herself not to open her mouth and start screaming. They talk about things that hadn't been a part of their repertoire in months - football matches, prom dresses, college applications. No Silas, no cure, no mass murder of magical beings. It's ironic that she hasn't wanted anything more than a little pause on all the creepy weird stuff to just enjoy her senior year like a normal person, and now that she has it, she feels like puking.

By the time they leave school, she's almost convinced that she's the rotten piece here. Which doesn't make anything better, quite the opposite.

What the hell is she supposed to do with all those memories that she has? She can still remember how it feels to close her teeth around someone else's neck, the taste of warm blood in her mouth. Her heart still aches for Tyler, who apparently isn't her boyfriend anymore and may have never been in this... Place, whatever it is. Does Tyler even exist here? How can this much love not be real? And what about Damon? Where the hell did she get him from if he's been dead for 10 years? Caroline suddenly finds herself missing his general unpleasantness. What wouldn't she give to have him widening those eyes of his like they can't all see how ridiculously blue they are and calling her _Blondie_ in that special derogatory way of his?

She's stopped paying attention to the conversation ages ago, lost in her own thoughts, when Bonnie elbows her.

"Care."

"What?" she asks, blinking back to attention.

"Look who's here," Bonnie says, nodding her head towards the parking lot with a funny smile on her lips.

Caroline doesn't have to search a lot to find out what she's pointing at. He stands out like a sore thumb in the middle of all the loud and jolly teenagers.

"Klaus," she murmurs.

Her stomach curls in on itself. He's staring straight at them, his stance all but making it clear that he's in one of his moods. His eyes, dark and unreadable, are boring into her. Even from a certain distance Caroline can see the brutal furrows scribbled across his forehead. This is Klaus at his absolute worst. And it suddenly hits her just how familiar this is to her. She's seen this look countless times before, usually right before someone dies.

It's not the look of a normal person. It's the look of a hybrid.

"Klaus?" Bonnie says. "What did he do?"

"What... What do you mean?" she asks, distracted as she calculates how much of a threat Klaus actually is right now. Under normal circumstances, on a regular day, it would be hard to tell.

"It's not _Nik_ today?"

"Why the hell would I call him that?"

Bonnie exchanges a weird look with Elena. "Because... Everyone does?"

Caroline gapes.

"Oh, Care." Elena cuts in before Caroline has a chance to recover from her shock to offer an appropriate response to that nonsense. "I'm sorry. I forgot you mentioned you two had a fight and he left town. Is that why you were so uncomfortable around me and Stefan today?"

"He looks uncomfortable too," Bonnie says.

"He looks like he's had the worst day in the history of ever," Elena adds.

"He looks like he wants to murder someone."

"Stefan!" Elena slaps his arm. "Don't say that. It's horrible. Nik would never do that. He's a doctor."

"He's a what?!" Caroline practically screams. Now that is just... _No_.

She was sort of resigned to just accepting the facts of this mysterious life being thrown at her like a bunch bricks all day. Fine, she's crazy, it's no one else's fault. But _this_? Klaus is evil. He's a tormentor of people, a destroyer of peace, a merciless killer. Not a doctor whom she calls _Nik_ and is, what? In a relationship with? Is that what they're saying? Holy fucking Jesus.

Can’t' they freaking see him right there, looking like an envoy of Satan coming straight from hell to unleash pain upon the human race? Even if he isn't a rabid hybrid in this world, he still clearly looks like a goddamn psycho. Who the fuck would call that _Nik_?

"I can't take today anymore. I'm going home," she announces, making her way to her car before anybody has a chance to stop her.

She walks right past Klaus, who's very clearly watching her like a hawk. She doesn't want to go anywhere near him, whatever he is.

But then... She feels a bit of a tug somewhere, some greater sense telling her that she shouldn't walk away from him. Those aren't the eyes of a savior of lives. Those are the eyes of the lunatic she met in _her_ Mystic Falls. It's not even the Klaus who she danced with at his mother's crazy ball, who showed her his paintings and fed her his blood to save her life. It's the Klaus who burned with dementia as he sacrificed Jenna or forced Stefan to turn his humanity off. The Klaus who terrifies her to the bones.

And that Klaus can only belong to a world where terrible things like vampires and werewolves and hybrids exist.

Hesitantly, she walks back to where he is. She's half-expecting him to say 'Hello, love', but his lips are pressed tightly together. Like he's doing an Olympics level effort not to blow up in rage right there and then. His eyes rover her face, searching for something, and suddenly Caroline recognizes the same despair she's been harboring in her chest all day in the dark blue of his irises. Only where hers has turned into fear, his has clearly taken the shape of pure anger.

She notices his hand, then, which he's balling into a fist next to his body. Bloodied, with a rag haphazardly wrapped around it. Cut. Exactly the same as hers.

The air is knocked out of her lungs. "Oh my God..."

"I take it you're not a vampire anymore."

**TBC**


	2. Between Me and You

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As always, I remind you that English is not my first language! So I apologize beforehand for any mistakes you might find. :(
> 
> As for modifications, this chapter has been more thoroughly edited than the previous one and several bits were either changed or simply deleted, but still nothing fundamental was changed.  
> For the people who asked me about uploading all chapters at once, I'm sorry but I won't. :/ I'm carefully going through the whole thing, rewriting bits of the story and changing details here and there in light of what I know now about the future chapters. So far it's been minor stuff, but I don't know, it could mean a complete rewrite for some chapters. Lord knows how unhappy I was about some of them the first time I posted. So I'll upload one chapter at a time, ideally once a week. I know it sucks for those of you who have already read everything the first time, but maybe you can enjoy a re-read while you wait for the new stuff? =) Or if you don't feel like doing it, then make sure you at least check the A/N 'cause I will let you know if there's anything majorly modified that you need to check out. I'm really sorry, but please don't be mad at me! I promise I'm trying to make the story better.
> 
> For the one person who asked if I stole this story 'cause it had five chapters last time: no, anon. I didn't. It's my story. I took it down and now I'm putting it back up. Don't worry.
> 
> Your feedback is very much appreciated! Thank you to everyone who's reading this! I hope you enjoy this chapter. :)

"Stop."

Caroline's head snaps around like a thunder at Klaus' deep and assertive tone. She was so wrapped up in her own head that, for a second there, she forgot she wasn't alone.

"Stop what?" she asks.

"Stop pacing. You're driving me mad."

Caroline halts, looks down at her own feet and realizes they'd been moving out of their own accord, taking her back and forth around the Mikaelson's living room like a maniac. She feels the beginning of a protest rising in her, suddenly incensed at the idea that, with all that's happening at the moment, it's her  _pacing_  what drives him mad. But she can read Klaus loud and clear and the signs saying 'KEEP OFF THE GRASS' are flashing in neon lights.  

All the fight evaporates out of her as she slumps down on the couch opposite him, exhaling heavily.

This has to be some kind of cosmic joke, she thinks, blowing up the hair off her face and focusing her eyes on a bit of wall above Klaus' head so she won't have to look directly at him. It unnerves her, both because it's  _him_ , and because he seems to know just as little as she does about their  _condition_. To say they're in trouble is an understatement.

Of all the people in the world, she had to get stuck in this weird, history-altering, memory-removing, supernatural-wipe out of a world with Klaus Mikaelson. This is hardly the event that causes Caroline to doubt the existence of a God for the first time, but if there is one, or any kind of omnipotent power ruling over the destinies of all mortal and immortal souls alike, she is pretty certain that It is a sadistic bastard with a terrible sense of humor.

She'd laugh at the irony if she wasn't a breath away from a panic attack.

Objectively speaking, Caroline knows having Klaus here might actually be somewhat like hitting the jackpot as far as curses or fake worlds or whatever-this-is goes. If you're going to be trapped somewhere with no clue on what's going on, no idea on where to start looking for answers and no powers to help you move along, you'd want to have a member of the Original clan with you, theoretically speaking. If anyone will be able to impose any sort of authority over this mess, it's them. 

But things are rarely this objective, especially where Klaus Mikaelson is concerned. Caroline would take Elijah any day over him. Hell, she'd even take Rebekah. They don't really see eye to eye, but Caroline is pretty sure they'd be able to negotiate some common ground if they absolutely had to. Klaus is... Harder to navigate, and his mercurial ways are just a fraction of what makes him so complicated.

Theirs is an odd-dynamic, has been almost since the very beginning. Caroline doesn't even know when it started. Maybe when he saved her life the first time (after putting it in danger the first time), or maybe it was when she accepted to go as his sort-of-date-but-not-really to that party his mother threw when the whole Original family was brought back from the depths of hell. Caroline has no idea what about her made this ancient, all-mighty hybrid  _fancy_  her. It certainly wasn't deliberate on her part.

It is mind-blowing and absurd, but she seems to have some kind of weird influence over Klaus. The most unyielding of all the vampires who have ever walked the earth, willing to compromise for a Miss Mystic Falls. It's ridiculous. But also so very disconcerting to be aware of the fact. She doesn't know what to do about it, what  _not_  to do. What she does is her best to show all her contempt for him, to make it clear that not all the promise of art and music and beauty in the world is enough to make her interested. 

But then there is this other part of her... This tiny little microscopic cheater of a side that can't help but feel flattered. A side that can't help but  _wonder._

Caroline Forbes is organized and systematic; she likes to keep things under neatly defined categories, including the people in her life. And Klaus just refuses to fit anywhere. She can't be objective around him. And that just won't do.

The present situation doesn't allow her to hold on to old grudges and be anything less than completely unbiased. And square and fair, Klaus isn't being very helpful on that front either. His understanding of what is happening is just as good as hers, which is nonexistent at best.

Just like her, he woke up in his bed with no memory of how he got from the last point he remembers to there. Unlike her, he immediately realized there was something off with his senses. And then he had the same brilliant idea of slashing his hand open to confirm that vampirism was a goner.

Caroline called Bonnie and Stefan, and Klaus reached out to his siblings, Elijah and Rebekah. His conversations went a little worse than hers, though, as you would expect; Rebekah is also completely clueless about ever being an original vampire, and Klaus' reaction to that was to yell some less than polite expletives at her.

Elijah was nowhere to be found. The number Klaus has didn't even connect. So that was the end of Caroline's hope of having another more reasonable member of the family on her side to counter-balance the excessive temper and volatile nature of the one already here.

Their facts thus far are: something very foul is going on, they have no idea what it is, and the only thing they do know is that they have no super powers and no allies to count on. Not much of a start, then.

While Caroline's anxiety skyrockets, however, the king of losing his cool is in perfect silent contemplation. Now  _that_ is driving  _her_ mad.

"How are you so freaking calm?" she demands.

Klaus remains impassive, just stares at her, his eyes feverish with frustration, like he has no idea what to do with the rage inside of him and is trying his best to will it to stay put. Normally, when something pisses off Klaus this much, he'll start a fight that invariably ends with someone dead. Sometimes several someones. Only now he hasn't got the strength or a target. It sends a peculiar friction running down Caroline's spine. She knows that look only too well.

There's another long stretch of silence, but  _not_  saying anything doesn't seem to be helping _at all_  and then she can't hold back anymore. She needs to  _do something_  or she's going to lose it.

"We can't just sit back and wait for everything to be magically resolved. What do we do?"

"I don't know," he replies, flatly.

"Think of something."

"What is your suggestion?"

"I don't have a suggestion. You're the billion years old hybrid here. Aren't you supposed to know everything?"

"Would I be here having this meaningless conversation if I did?"

Point taken. Klaus doesn't want to be here anymore than she does. At least they have that in common.

She's about to launch into a long, pointless rant about how his sourness isn't being helpful when she notices his hand. While she had her mother to help her take care of her cut, Klaus had only his left hand - and it did a terrible job. The clearly inappropriate piece of rag wrapped haphazardly around his palm is soaked in blood and not holding very well.

"So much for being a doctor..." she murmurs, and only realizes that she said it out loud when she catches his inquisitive gaze locked on her. Caroline rolls her eyes and decides it's best if he's kept in the dark about the details of his activities in this world. There are certain parts of it she'd rather not have to explain. "Let me see that," she says, reaching out to him.

"What?"

"Your hand," she says, snapping her fingers. "Give me your hand."

Hesitating a moment longer, as though doubting her intentions ( _Klaus_  doubting  _her_? What is she going to do, rub salt on his cut?), he obliges. Caroline removes the ruined cloth and inspects the damage. She's not an expert - he is, technically, if there's any truth in what Elena said - but it looks worse than hers. Certainly deeper. She makes a face and begins to ask whether he has any first aid kits in the house, but gives up halfway through it.  _Of course_  he doesn't. When has Klaus ever had the need to patch up anything?

This world's Klaus, however, just happens to be a little bit more prepared.

"Just wait here. I'll be right back."

As she suspected, there's a very complete first aid kit in the cabinet under the sink in the bathroom, in a red box. There's antibacterial gel, antiseptic, gauze, an adhesive suture kit, all types of medicine and even some injections, each carefully labeled with stickers. Caroline recognizes the neat and elegant handwriting on them. In what kind of sick twisted world is Klaus an organized person?

 _In a world where the two of you are together_ , says a tiny voice inside her head that sounds a lot like her own Caroline hates to admit it, but this does look a lot like her. Suddenly she's afraid of what else she might find in the house linking her and Klaus more intimately. "Oh, Jesus Christ," she mutters under her breath as she turns on her heels and goes back to the living room.

"Give me your hand," she commands, taking a seat next to Klaus on the couch. He doesn't move, his gaze fixed at the red box on her lap. "I know you're not familiar, but it's a first aid kit. Human-you kept it in the bathroom." She opens it and shows the content to him. "See? No white oak stake."

As soon as the words leave her mouth she knows it was the wrong thing to say. "How do I know you're not going to stick any of those needles in me?" he asks, glaring at her, all suspicion.

"I'm just trying to help", she retorts with a hint of righteous indignation. "Stop being so paranoid."

"If I remember correctly, you were quite willing to let me perish for your own personal amusement not that long ago."

"Willing to let you perish?" Caroline parrots. "I was just trying to bargain with you, which is exactly what you would do if it was the other way around."

"Like I said, you were very willing to sit back and watch as I endured great deals of pain."

"Are you seriously going to hold that against me?" There's real heat in her voice now. It was hardly one of Caroline's finest moments, but since when has Klaus started holding the moral high ground here? After everything he's done, he doesn't get to hold a grudge. "I had a million things to do for prom and I dropped everything just to help you. I tried to find the splinter, but there was none!"

"Pardon me, love, if I happen to be a little wary after you proved that my life is negotiable to you," he practically spits out, his words drenched in irony and something vile as he stands to his feet.

Caroline feels something snapping in her. All the flimsy self-control she was working so hard to maintain dissolving in an instant. "You are un-freaking-believable!" she bellows, getting up as well. This is straight-out offensive. "You _bit_  me and left me to die just to prove a point to Tyler!"

"And then I healed you," he says from behind gritted teeth.

"When I was practically gone already!"

"I was never going to let you die."

"But you were still very  _willing_  to sit back and  _watch_  as I endured great deals of  _pain._  Caused by  _you_!"

Klaus opens his mouth as if he's going to say something else but snaps it back shut. Some nerve he has to hold this misdemeanor against her like an accusation. She feels like she's going to blow up. God, he is just  _terrible_!

Caroline shuts her eyes for a second and takes a deep breath. Klaus deserves to get an infection and die to learn a lesson, but she has to remember where they are. It's hard to keep it at the forefront of her mind that this is the means to and end when he goes so out of his way to be annoying and petty, but there's a bigger purpose here. She needs him.  _For now_.

"Last chance, Klaus. Let me see your hand or you can drive yourself to a hospital when it gets infected."

Klaus looks at her like a little boy who knows he's done something bad but is perfectly willing to lie about it to protect himself, and then looks away, sitting down on the couch again and putting his hand out for her.

Caroline huffs out in annoyance, puts her hair behind her ear and then joins him again, like the adult that she is. "Smart choice." She picks up the box again and gets to work. She uses some of the gauze to remove the blood that he didn't clean before, some of it already dry, and then the antibacterial gel to clean the wound. "Fair warning, this is going to sting," she says, lest he starts complaining that she's hurting him on purpose. But Klaus doesn't even flinch. He probably had a lot of opportunities over the past thousand years or so to build up his tolerance for pain. A cut is nothing.

He deserves to get a half-assed job at best here, but Caroline gives her painstaking, daughter-of-the-sheriff best, keeping her head low and paying close attention to her work. In any case, it's something to focus on rather than on how much he makes her mad sometimes or how big her despair is that she can't even turn her back on him.

After some long minutes of peaceful quiet, Klaus speaks again, almost conversationally, like he hadn't been acting like a dick just a moment ago. "You mentioned your friends don't know anything."

"Hm," Caroline mumbles.

"Is there anyone you haven't spoken to yet?"

"Tyler," she says, directing him a perfunctory look. "And Damon. But he's dead."

"Dead?"

"I asked about him because of Elena and Stefan. Bonnie said he's been dead for ten years."

Klaus makes a pensive sound.

"Is that relevant?"

"Perhaps."

"Should I go talk to Stefan then?"

"I think you should work on the Bennett witch."

"What did I just say about her not knowing anything?"

"Vampires and werewolves either are, or aren't. There's no in-between. But witches can still harbor power unbeknownst to them. It's possible she wasn't telling the whole truth," he says, and then, after a pause, adds, "I'd do it myself but I have a feeling you won't approve of my methods."

Caroline shoots him a dagger filled look. "Don't."

"Well. I'll leave it in your capable hands, then."

If she didn't know any better, she'd think there was a hint of humor in his voice. In fact - there might as well be, considering how his mood fluctuates more than stock exchange. Caroline, on the other hand, is still quite riled up. So she merely finishes her work, applying the adhesive sutures and then wrapping his hand up with gauze.

"There," she says, pushing his hand away immediately and putting everything back in the red box. She has a feeling they'll be needing that again if they are to stay in this place for much longer. Klaus doesn't have the strength of a hybrid, but he certainly still has the temper of one.

"Thank you, Caroline," he says, catching her eye and speaking very solemnly. The  _I'm sorry_ goes unsaid, but she can read it off of him like a book. A child who knows he's done wrong, is willing to lie and doesn't know how to apologize.

"You're welcome," she replies, signing on their little peace treaty as she chooses to accept the silent apology instead of feeding her grudge for a while longer. "Remember to change the gauze and apply some more antiseptic. And don't even think about accusing me of having no consideration for your well-being."

"Dully noted," he says. Caroline was expecting some more butthurt remarks or a whiny pout at the very least, but Klaus  _smiles_. And not in a derisive, caustic sort of way; his face actually lights up a little, his eyes softening so much she can almost see the blue in them for a change.

She's spent the entire afternoon with him, since they met outside school earlier, and this is the first time she's seen him smile. Actually, it's the first time she's seen anything other than sourness and anger or a mix of both on him.

For whatever reason, it feels strangely reassuring.

Caroline doesn't really know how to react to that, certainly doesn't want him to know she'll be holding on to that feeling for comfort while she tries to make it through her first night in this world. Instead, she announces she has to leave, tells him to keep in touch and springs away, eager to get out of the house and into the night's air.

God, this is going to be so much harder than she thought.

**TBC**


	3. Hurry Up, We're Dreaming

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As always, I ask you to please forgive my many mistakes. English is not my first language and the story hasn't been beta'ed.
> 
> Thanks to everyone who's been reading this story, whether it's your first time or not. Feedback is MUCH appreciated! Hit me here or on tumblr @ galvanizedfriend.

When Caroline goes to sleep that night, she dreams.

 

 

In her dream, she's outside school and everyone she knows is there - her mom, Elena, Stefan, Damon, Tyler, Bonnie, Matt, even Klaus. They're all looking at her like they're on hold, waiting for her to do something, say something; something huge and impossibly heavy depends exclusively on what she does next, but Caroline has no idea what they expect from her. She gives them everything she's got, her absolute best, all the time; isn't it enough?

 

 

Suddenly, it all becomes too much for her to bear. So Caroline starts running as fast as she can. She feels her lungs screaming for air, her muscles cramping up, her heart beating like it's about to take off. And yet she runs. Eventually, she hits water. A lake, its surface dark and absolutely still, so big she can't see what's on the other side. Caroline walks in, the cold water touching her skin like a thousand needles, and she starts swimming, her legs pushing her forward while her arms break through the ice cold ahead of her with as much determination as she can muster. She doesn't know why, but it feels like her life depends on it, on the perfect coordination of her movements and the sheer strength of her muscles.

 

 

She swims for a long time, barely breaking over the surface to breathe. And then she stops. There's no sign of land ahead of her, but when she looks back she sees nothing, Mystic Falls completely gone, like it wasn't even there to begin with. It's just her in the middle of an infinite lake, the sky above her a harsh shade of grey, and exhaustion finally takes over. Caroline closes her eyes, lets out a shuddering breath, and lets go. Her body starts to sink, heavy, heavy, heavy, down into the dark depth of the lake, but she's not scared. She feels completely at peace. It's over.

 

 

And then she wakes up.

 

 

She's covered in sweat, her hands fisted around her sheets, her body stiff and tense. She hadn't had a dream in a long time, vampires hardly ever do, but somehow she didn't think this was like anything she'd ever experienced before. It was _real_ , palpable. She can even feel the ghost of a tingle in her legs.

 

 

She remains very still for a while, waiting for her heart to slow down and her breath to go back to normal. Somehow being awake is much worse than being in her dream, that peaceful acceptance completely gone from her, replaced by the same fear and doubt that lulled her into sleep. There's no moment of light, no walking away from darkness to find herself cured. The world is still wrong, the day before was not just a nightmare and she's still not a vampire.

 

 

Eventually, Caroline realizes that she'll accomplish nothing by staying in bed; it's time to get up and face the day. She feels tempted to do exactly like in her dream, to start running until she hits water and then swim until this whole place becomes a tiny little smudge of a thing in her visual field. But the more reasonable side of her knows it's not an option. So she pushes off the bed and gets ready for school. Keeping herself occupied is all there is.

 

 

She gets down to the kitchen, attracted by the smell of warm food. There are eggs and pancakes waiting for her on a plate next to a little note from her mother, who's not yet fully convinced she isn't sick. To be perfectly honest, Caroline isn't 100% sure either, but if her problem is a disease of some sort, it's not something that can be cured with comfort food and a warm bed, that's for certain.

 

 

Still, good food is good food, and being able to taste her mother's pancakes again as they are meant to be tasted after such a long time is a small comfort. Vampirism changed the way she feels about food; it's good, she still appreciates it, but it's just not the same thing. It has all become a bit... dull, unseasoned and lackluster. She doesn't salivate for a good dinner like she used to before.

 

 

Human taste buds are probably the one thing she misses the most from the old days. It's not enough to make her want to stay this way, but she'll take a point where she can get it.

 

 

It turns out her guts are _growling._ The past day went by in such a daze that nourishment frankly never even crossed her mind. There's an endless list of things about her new _condition_ that are worrying the hell out of Caroline, but the more ordinary, basic stuff that she'll suddenly have to reincorporate into her daily routine, such as feeding at regular intervals and drinking lots of water, are not amongst the most pressing points.

 

 

Until her stomach reminds her of it, of course.

 

 

Feeling full and satisfied and with her thoughts somewhat clearer after a good breakfast and a large glass of juice, Caroline heads to school with her determination revived and improved. It lasts for some good fifteen minutes before her spirits are crushed as she spots a familiar figure sauntering down the hall.

 

 

_Tyler_.

 

 

Caroline’s breath hitches and then leaves her body altogether as though she has been punched in the stomach. Her legs twitch under her, threatening to give in.

 

 

She thought she was ok. That she'd come to terms with the fact that she and Tyler were just not meant to be. Mystic Falls had become a graveyard for him, a reminder of all the things he lost. It didn't make sense for him to fight Klaus to stay there just for her sake. He'd be better off starting over elsewhere, a clean slate, preferably very far from all the Mikaelsons. Caroline isn't ready to leave yet. She has things she wants to do, plans she still wants to pursue. She has her mother, and she'll be _damned_ if she'll leave Liz alone in the middle of all those nutters. That means she can't be with Tyler. Not now. It's ok. It's her choice, too. She wants him to be happy. That's all that matters.

 

 

But _God_ , she misses him...

 

 

She felt selfish for wanting Tyler to give up on his hybrid liberation front, for wishing that he would just let Klaus have everyone else so that he wouldn't need Tyler as much anymore. She knows how much it hurt Tyler to be sired to Klaus, treated like a slave, forced to carry out chores and kill in the name of a man he loathed more than anything. It was tearing him apart, which is why he had to leave and put himself through a kind of hell Caroline can only imagine (or not, really, because every time she tries to imagine it she ends up picturing certain things with a certain lady werewolf she'd really rather not).

 

 

And it was very noble of Tyler to try to pass on his knowledge to the other hybrids, to free them from the shackles that bound them to Klaus. Really, it's admirable. He put his head on the line and ended up paying an unfathomable price for his courage. But Caroline can't help but feel that it wasn't all good intentions on Tyler's part; there was a lot of ego involved too. He didn't just want to _free_ the hybrids, he wanted to _steal_ them, to become their alpha and build his own little army of loyal allies to start an uprising against the Big Bad Wolf. Tyler embarked on this fantasy power play with Klaus and actually thought he could be _stronger_ than him, could make him pay for everything he'd ever done. His need for revenge completely blindsided him to the fact that there was no way he could ever beat Klaus at his own game. Since the very start, it was bound to end in tragedy for just one of them. Caroline tried to warn him, but he just wouldn't let go. Klaus doesn't forgive and forget. Tyler should've known that, he met Katherine.

 

 

It probably makes everything ten thousand times worse that, in the end, Klaus let him leave Mystic Falls with his head still attached to his body. It's terrible, but Caroline knows that Tyler would rather have Klaus chasing him to the ends of the earth than to know that the person he hates the most decided to show _mercy_ because his girlfriend asked nicely. She likes to believe that the reason for that is that Tyler loves her so much that he can't stand the thought of losing her, much less to Klaus of all people. But the truth is probably not that flattering. She's long come to the lonely understanding that Tyler's hatred for Klaus is probably the strongest feeling he has for anyone. All she can hope for now is that the time he spends away from Mystic Falls cures him of his ridiculous obsession and he can finally find some peace of mind.

 

 

Right now, though, as she watches him walking down the hall without a single care in the world, all that descent into darkness wiped off of his handsome face, Caroline aches to touch him. To wrap her arms around him and _feel_ him, like she thought she'd never get to do again.

 

 

Yes, Caroline desperately wants to fix this whole situation and go back to her Mystic Falls, in spite of the fact there are no more Lockwoods left there, but if Tyler were to take her hand and ask her to run away with him right now, she's not entirely sure she'd be able to resist.

 

 

She's preparing to open her mouth and say something - _Hi_ or _I've missed you_ or _Please, get me out of here_ \- when Tyler walks past her without the slightest flick of the eye in her direction. Caroline might as well be invisible.

 

 

It's not _her_ Tyler, she tells herself. He's as much a stranger to her as everyone else in this place. Still... He looks so much like the Tyler she fell in love with, before Klaus and the hybrids and all the anguish. This feeling she has, of watching him go, it's terribly familiar. Tyler always seems to be leaving her. Even here. She can't help the disappointment.

 

 

And she was so determined to make the best out of this day...

 

 

"Tyler Lockwood, _ew_." She blinks out of her thoughts to find Bonnie next to her, tracing her longing gaze all the way to Tyler's back as he walks away. "I know you're hurting, Care, but you don't want to stoop to a Tyler Lockwood low. Trust me, I know. Those abs are not worth it."

 

 

Caroline frowns. "You know?"

 

 

Bonnie shakes her head and wraps her arm around Caroline's. "Come on. Let me walk you away from this mistake before it happens."

 

 

Caroline steals a glance at Tyler over her shoulder one last time. How is it possible that there is a world where she's supposed to not like the man she loves and love the man she... Well, feels mainly not good about?

 

 

This place is seriously _wicked_. She can't get out of there soon enough.

 

 

x-x-x-x-x-x-x

 

 

The rest of the day goes by with a lot of self-pity and a good dose of melancholy. Caroline barely says a word to anyone else, which completely defeats the purpose of her presence at school. All she wants to do is find a corner to hide into until this whole shit goes away. But all she's got is a throbbing hand and nosy friends not taking a hint.

 

 

Of course they all promptly assume she and Klaus are somehow quarreling and no amount of denial seems to convince them otherwise. It annoys Caroline to no end that they would think _Klaus_ would be the reason behind her heartache. He's the reason behind a _lot_ of things, but definitely not _that._ It's kind of offensive, really, not to mention weird as hell to watch Elena talking about him with such admiration. Eventually Caroline just gets tired of denying it. The more she says no, the more they think she's lying. So be it. Let them think whatever they want.

 

 

In the end, though, it all works out for the best. Bonnie decides that she needs a pity-party and some Bennett cookies, which - really, it sounds _great_. It gives her a chance to talk to Bonnie _and_ to try one of the Bennett’s' famous cookies again. She hasn't had one in years.

 

 

"Is Elena coming with us?" Caroline asks, trying not to make it too obvious that she'd rather not have any Gilberts around.

 

 

"No, she can't. She has to go meet Stefan," Bonnie replies.

 

 

"Oh."

 

 

"Someone vandalized his family's crypt last night. Can you believe it? He's a bit shaken. I think it has something to do with his brother."

 

 

"Oh?" Caroline quirks an inquisitive eyebrow at her friend. "Vandalized?"

 

 

"Yeah. I don't know the details. Apparently they broke into the crypt and destroyed his brother's tomb."

 

 

"Wow," she says, itching to grab her phone and ask Klaus just what the hell he's up to. "What kind of animal would do that?"

 

 

"It sounds like a stoner thing to me," Bonnie adds, in a conspiratorial tone. “Like those idiots who are always hanging out with Elena's brother. But I'm not gonna go on record with that opinion."

 

 

"Sure," Caroline nods in agreement. "Stoners are just the worst."

 

 

She stores the information away for later. First, Bonnie. Klaus can wait.

 

 

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

 

 

Bonnie's bedroom is almost too comfortable for Caroline to handle as the two of them flop down on the bed with a jar of freshly baked cookies. Everything about it reminds her of their childhood, when they used to stay up all night talking about boys and making silly plans for the future.

 

 

It's ridiculous how much their lives changed in such a short amount of time, when she stops to think about it. They were forced out of their ordinary teenage lives from night to day, had to grow into adulthood through death and pain. They've been deprived of so much - not only people they cared for who have been brutally taken away, but moments. Things that should've been important, that should’ve been rites of passage for them, but paled to insubstantiality next to all the rest. That's probably why Caroline is so obsessed with prom, desperate to put this little beacon of normalcy back into their lives and pretend they can still be just teenagers whose biggest problems are dresses and corsages, even if just for one night.

 

 

She loves who she is as a vampire, but she definitely misses the simplicity of her human life.

 

 

"So!" Bonnie says. "What did Nik do? Tell me everything."

 

 

"Well." Caroline looks away, down at the cookie in her hand. She didn't really think this through, did she? The Caroline Forbes she knows would have an entire script ready and know exactly how to lure Bonnie into a trap to force her to talk about witchy stuff. "What hasn't he done?"

 

 

"What do you mean?"

 

 

"Oh, you know. He does... Things. Bad things."

 

 

Bonnie frowns, concern etching onto her face. "What bad things, Care? He didn't... Does he...?"

 

"No! God, no. He hasn't laid a hand on me." The speed and ease with which Caroline denies that amazes her. Violence is basically Klaus' way of life, and yet she never feels physically threatened by him. Which might be a big misconception on her part, mind you; it's entirely possible Klaus will just snap at her and she'll end up dead one of these days. So far, though, Caroline's confidence has been so great that she's actually had the nerve of openly antagonizing him. She's pretty sure many people have died for a lot less than some of the things she's said to Klaus.

 

 

Well, there was this one time she almost did, when he staked and then bit her, but even then he regretted it afterward, just to confirm her suspicions that, for whatever reason, she has been granted immunity.

 

 

That's not to say she's not afraid of him. Anyone would be incredibly stupid not to be. Mostly, though, her reasons spell much deeper and more complicated things than just physical violence. It's what gets underneath her skin that really scares her.

 

 

"Then what is it?" Bonnie prods.

 

 

Caroline takes a deep breath, combing her mind for an excuse, and the first thing she comes up with is, "He cheated on me."

 

 

"What?!" Bonnie sits up so fast Caroline has to grab the jar from her to keep it from dropping to the floor. Klaus is not worth a jar full of perfectly delicious cookies. "I can't believe that! How did you find out?!"

 

 

"I... Found the messages on his cell phone," she replies, aware that she sounds way cooler about it than her friend, who looks at her with murder in her eyes.

 

 

It warms her heart a little that Bonnie feels so strongly about a guy cheating on her. Caroline's love life has been no walk in the park, always either nonexistent or on the verge of falling apart, and she kind of wishes she could've had her friends fawning over her a little bit, giving her tight hugs and warm cookies and telling her that everything would be ok. Sometimes that's all a girl needs. Instead, she had to go through the break up with Matt and then the whole Tyler debacle basically by herself.

 

 

She gets it that she's found herself a group of friends with huge tendencies for life-and-death problems of their own, but _come on_. Caroline fell in love with a _werewolf,_ helped him through his first change at the risk of getting bitten way before Klaus was around to heal anyone, and the only person who ever took notice of her drama was freaking _Damon_ , and only because he felt he should threaten her in order to keep the werewolves in the dark about the vampires in town.

 

 

Seriously, that's just _lame_.

 

 

"Are you 100% sure?"

 

 

"Positive."

 

 

"Jerk! What did he have to say for himself?"

 

 

"Not much."

 

 

"He didn't even try to deny it?"

 

 

"Nope."

 

 

"Oh my God! What a dick!"

 

 

"He's the worst."

 

 

"Care!" Bonnie throws her arms around Caroline and pulls her into a tight embrace. "I'm so sorry. I can't believe he did that to you. I was rooting for him!"

 

 

"It's ok. I'm ok," she says, pulling away. "It's better to know, right?

 

 

"Yes, but... I'm so angry! It's like he cheated on me, too!"

 

 

Caroline scrunches up her nose. "Really?"

 

 

"You know how skeptical I was when you started going out with an older guy. But he was so... Dreamy! He's a doctor and he came with that angel face, complete with dimples. So perfect and caring and thoughtful. I hadn't seen you that happy in years. You were like... Glowing!"

 

 

"Huh," Caroline murmurs, unsure of what to respond. It's so surreal. Bonnie has basically just described everything she's ever wanted from a relationship, but never quite got. The irony of it doesn't go by unnoticed. "He's a very good liar, Bon," she says. "Klaus Mikaelson cares about no one as much as he cares about himself."

 

 

Bonnie shakes her head, still in denial. Not for the first time today she's seriously wondering whether one or both of her friends aren't secretly in love with her fake boyfriend. She doesn't know whether to be really sad or really worried. "And to think that I envied you two... Finding your epic love while still in high school? It's like hitting the jackpot."

 

 

Caroline snorts derisively. "Oh, _definitely_ not my epic love."

 

 

"Did you guys break up?"

 

 

"Yes."

 

 

Bonnie touches her shoulder, giving it a little squeeze before rubbing her arm affectionately. "I'm so sorry, Care. Is there anything I can do to help make it better?"

 

 

"Well..." Caroline starts, sensing an opportunity arising. "There's this one thing."

 

 

"Anything."

 

 

"You could... Perform a spell."

 

 

"A... Spell?" Bonnie parrots, like she didn't quite understand the last word.

 

 

"Yeah. To, you know. Find out more about this, uhm... Lady. The one he's cheating on me with."  Caroline flinches inwardly at her own little piece of fabrication. It sounded terrible even to her own ears, certainly below par to someone who's scored as many starring roles as she has in school plays.

 

 

"Are you serious?"

 

 

"Dead serious."

 

 

"I thought you didn't believe in any of that crap."

 

 

"Why wouldn't I believe?"

 

 

"Because we're a bit too old for that? It's just bedtime stories my grams used to tell us, it's not real. Besides, if you want to find out about that woman, I own this magical little gadget called a cell phone. Give me her name and we can Facebook-stalk her."

 

 

Caroline feels a spark of hope flaring up inside her. "Your grams?"

 

 

"You don't remember her?"

 

 

"Of course I do. I just... Don't remember the bedtime stories."

 

 

"Good for you, because it messed me up when I was a kid. She's insane."

 

 

"Bonnie," Caroline starts, moving closer to her friend and looking straight into her eyes. "What if she's not insane? What if magic really exists?"

 

 

For a heartbeat there, she thinks Bonnie is taking her seriously and considering her words. But then she laughs and shakes her head, a kind of pity in her eyes that says she thinks Caroline has lost her mind, which - might not be that far from the truth, actually. She hasn't discarded the possibility altogether yet.

 

 

"Poor thing. Nik's really messed you up, didn't he? That _bastard_. I think we're gonna need some alcohol to go with the cookies."

x-x-x-x-x-x-x

 

In hindsight, maybe Caroline shouldn't have gone with _cheating_.

 

 

_Klaus doesn't want to have children in the future_. ( _Ugh, God no_.) Or _Klaus thinks Prom is stupid and doesn't want to be my date_. That would work. Why didn't she think of that? Cheating is too heavy a transgression - which is ironic in itself, to say the least. Cheating doesn't even make Klaus's Top 50 All-Time Worst list. Maybe not even the Top 100. But alas, Bonnie just couldn't let it go. Caroline was honestly taken aback by how vexed her friend was. She definitely didn't expect that much heat.

 

 

Maybe there's more behind Bonnie's aggravation than Caroline knows. Maybe Bonnie's been recently cheated on herself or has grown generally disillusioned with men and all her faith in love had been deposited in Klaus (if that was the case, then she kind of had it coming). Still. It gets her thinking about how great this world's Klaus must be, to get this sort of reaction from _Bonnie_ of all people. She was never this vocal about Matt. Or Stefan. And Caroline's pretty sure Bonnie's a fan of both. (Tyler, well... He was kind of a douche for most of his life, so it took time for him to start growing on everyone.)

 

 

Before this, Caroline hadn't really considered that it's possible she and Klaus are replacing existing people in this... _place_. Maybe they've crossed over into a different dimension. What if there is a Caroline in her Mystic Falls right now going on a killing spree because she doesn't know how to be a vampire and can't control her cravings? The first few months were a nightmare to navigate, and she had help. The other Caroline is going to be completely out of sorts, with not the faintest clue of what's happening to her. And what about Klaus, _good_ Klaus, being corrupted by his hybrid form?

 

 

And - _oh, God_. What happens when she and Klaus suddenly get all lovey-dovey and start making out in public?

 

 

_Shit._

 

Her sense of urgency just keeps growing.

 

 

It took her some maneuvering, but many cookies and some alcohol later Caroline finally managed to convince Bonnie that she needed some alone time to process everything. But she did not leave empty-handed.

 

 

Caroline's pretty proud of herself. Subtlety was never one of her strong suits, but she was quite clever, indulging Bonnie just enough to fish out intel about her grandmother without making it seem like she was conducting an interrogation. The alcohol was good help, too.

 

 

It's pretty clear Bonnie doesn't have a good relationship with her grams in this world, though, which saddens Caroline a bit. There was such closeness between them, so much love... It's sad this Bonnie doesn't get the chance to experience all that. She doesn't like to talk about Sheila, just keeps saying she's crazy and decided to alienate herself from the rest of the family when they kept insisting she should seek help. Being a witch in a magic-less world must not be easy. Or she really is just crazy, but that's a possibility Caroline is not going to entertain for the time being, for the sake of her own sanity. Even Klaus seemed certain there was something to be learned there, so she's going to trust his millennium-old instincts.

 

 

It's not much, what Caroline finds; definitely doesn't answer any questions yet. But it's _something_. A north. Somewhere to begin. She'll take it.

 

 

After an entire afternoon of dissing Klaus and making up silly reasons to be mad at him, she feels weird going straight to his house when she leaves Bonnie's, but they have no time to waste here. Not when it's possible there are a Caroline and a Klaus in their world completely destroying her reputation right now. Caroline doesn't want to get back just to find out that she's been shunned for fornicating with the enemy.

 

 

His car is parked outside, but he doesn't answer the door when she rings the bell, so Caroline just lets herself in. No time for formalities either.

 

 

"Klaus?" she calls, but no answer comes. There's not a sound coming from anywhere within the house - then again, she's lost her super hearing; everything sounds quiet to her these days. The second floor seems to be completely still, even dark, so she begins exploring the first pavement of the house.

 

 

"Klaus, are you there?" The sitting room is empty, only the fire crackling in the lit up fireplace. "Klaus!" she tries again, turning up the tone of her voice. It echoes in the long corridor, but there's still no response.

 

 

The kitchen looks absolutely pristine, not a single glass out of place. One of the rooms is, Caroline figures, his studio. It's interesting that he's a bit of an artist in this world as well. She feels a dash of temptation to go in and inspect some of the paintings and drawings there. It's a part of him that's always intrigued her.

 

 

Caroline would hardly say she's got any artistic veins in her, not connected to traditional forms of art anyway. She can admire it, knows what she likes, but doesn't really understand a thing. There are, however, certain aspects of it that are universal. Art is meant to instill something on the observer, to provoke a feeling or a spark, and the little she's seen of Klaus' work was so... Not what she would expect. It was beautiful and full of sensibility and emotion, not at all tinged by the kind of rage and cruelty Klaus transpires. It's hard to reconcile the evil hybrid with the artist. For the most part, Caroline doesn't even _want_ to do that, to start humanizing Klaus and make it even harder for her to hate him as he deserves to be hated. But it's a perception that is there and she can't ignore it. Like her eyes caught a spark and now she can't unsee it. And for some reason Caroline thinks nothing could be more revealing of the deepest aspects of Klaus' conflicted bipolar personality than his art. It's something that is certainly very close to his heart - if he even has one.

 

 

This would be a perfect opportunity to go snooping around. When else is she ever going to be left alone in Klaus' studio? Certainly not ever in their world. But Caroline resists the temptation and shuts the door behind her. She needs focus now. There are things at stake here.

 

 

"Klaus!" she screams again. Now where the hell did he go? Weren't they supposed to keep in touch if anything relevant came up? Caroline already knows for a fact that he was up to something the night before - it was _definitely_ no stoner who broke into the Salvatore crypt. And Klaus didn't even bother texting to tell her anything, while she came straight to his house to present him with the few facts she managed to collect from Bonnie. She's starting to get this startling feeling that one of them is not being entirely honest with the other. If Klaus is trying to pull a fast on her, she swears to God -

 

 

She's about to go down to the basement when she notices the light in a room at the end of the hall is on. "Klaus? Are you there?"

 

 

Caroline moves to inspect. It's the library. She halts by the door, her breath faltering as she takes in the room. It's like a hurricane went through there. Books and lamps and papers thrown all over, tossed around like someone went searching through.

 

 

 And then she spots the body behind a desk.

 

 

"Oh my God." Caroline's heart skips a beat. Klaus is sitting on the floor, leaning against the wall, legs stretched out before him. His head is down, chin to his chest, and he's completely limp. Unconscious. She hopes he's just unconscious. _Please, God, be unconscious_.

 

 

"No, no, no, no," Caroline mutters like a mantra as she rushes to his side, kneeling down on the carpet and holding his head up with a hand. "Klaus. Klaus, come on. Wake up."

 

 

Instinctively, she lifts her pulse to her mouth, but her bite, however painful, is not enough to pierce holes through her skin. Caroline groans, feeling more helpless than she has in a very long time. A sob threatens to escape her lips as she feels a bubble of sheer black panic rising in her chest. This can't be happening. It just _can't_.

 

 

What is she supposed to do without Klaus? It's bad enough that all they have in this mad world is each other. But to not even have him? _No_. No, absolutely not. That's not an option. Caroline won't let him die.

 

 

She takes a deep breath, reining in the fear, giving him a hard shake and screaming at his face. " _Klaus_!"

 

 

He comes to his senses with a jerk, his instincts kicking in as he grabs a hold of her forearms with both his hands. It's not hybrid-strength, but it's strong enough to hurt. It'll probably leave a mark. But Caroline is so relieved she doesn't even register the pain. He's flailing to get away from her, but she forces him back down. "Klaus, it's me. It's Caroline. It's ok. You're ok."

 

 

"Caroline," he echoes as though only now beginning to register his surroundings, his eyes slowly focusing on her face. Some of the fight leaves him and he seems to finally relax, sinking back to the floor. There's genuine fear in his eyes, like Caroline doesn't think she's ever seen before.

 

 

"It's ok," she repeats. "You're safe." He finally lets go of her arms, rubs a hand across his face, and Caroline gets a chance to take a good look at him.

 

 

Klaus is... Tired. Drained. More disheveled and unkept than she's ever seen him. There are awful dark circles under his eyes and his face looks haunted. A quick survey doesn't show her any obvious signs of injury. "Did you get attacked?" she asks.

 

 

Klaus gazes away from her, taking in the mess at the library around him, but his eyes seem distant, lost in some far-away thought. "No," he replies after a moment.

 

 

"What happened here?"

 

 

"I was searching for a book."

 

 

"You did this?"

 

 

"There's nothing useful in this library," he says by means of justifying the destruction. "All the important books I had, valuable volumes I collected over the centuries from all over the world - it's all gone. Replaced by cheap novels and anatomy books. All the grimoires -" Klaus presses his lips into a tight line, anger starting to build up in him. Just like that he's back to normal, the fear of a second ago all but gone. He's fuming, as per usual whenever something doesn't go his way.

 

 

Instead of being alarmed and taking a few safe steps back, Caroline lets out a breath of relief. She can still feel her heart on the back of her throat, but that bubble of panic is receding again. She's almost glad to witness Klaus' mood, for once. _Almost._

 

 

For a moment there, Caroline thought she was alone. She thought she'd lost him. The idea of being left on her own in this world almost crushed her.

 

 

"What happened to you?" she questions.

 

 

"I don't know," Klaus answers, all grumpy, refusing to meet her eyes as he pulls himself up. "I might've fallen asleep."

 

 

Caroline gapes. "That was you sleeping?" She stands to her feet, taking a copy of Pride and Prejudice that had been rudely discarded and landed open on the floor with her. She closes it and places it carefully on the desk. It's one of her favorites. "I called you a million times. I was shaking you here for ages. How did you not wake up?"

 

 

"I do not know, Caroline!" he snaps, crudely. "I was searching through this useless library, I felt tired and I sat down. Must I recount my every step to you?"

 

 

She wants to say that it is not normal for a person to just sit down and black out like this. That it is _definitely_ not normal to be so deeply asleep that you're almost comatose. Instead she says, "Well, what was I thinking? Being concerned. Next time I find you passed out somewhere, I'll just walk right over you and go take care of my life." Klaus opens his mouth to reply, but she doesn't wait to hear it. "You look wonderful, by the way."

 

 

Caroline turns on her heels and marches out of the library. The thing about Klaus' moodiness is that it gets old very quick. No wonder even his siblings can't stand him. She can't handle twenty minutes with him without getting her hackles up, let alone centuries at once. It's probably preferable to end up daggered in a coffin than to have to put up with him.

 

 

"Caroline, wait."

 

 

She halts, her eyes on the door just mere steps away from her. The best thing for her mental health, which is very close to a breaking point here, is for her to ignore Klaus and keep walking. Things outside aren't much better than inside - in fact, it's hard to tell which is worse, to be in the company of Klaus' caustic mood or completely alone in a world where absolutely nothing is familiar to her. Choices, choices...

 

 

Caroline lets out a weary breath and, bracing herself for the regret that is bound to come, she turns.

 

 

"Aren't you done being insufferable yet?"

 

 

Klaus at least has the decency to look contrite as he says, "I didn't mean to upset you."

 

 

"Well, you could've fooled me."

 

 

"You have to understand, I'm -" he stops mid-speech, snapping his mouth shut as though curbing himself from speaking too much, afraid of what might come out.

 

 

"What? Tired? Angry? Confused? Join the club. You're not the only one."

 

 

He takes a tentative step towards her. "You seem to be having a much easier time navigating the circumstances."

 

 

"Easy? Are you kidding me? When I saw you in there and I thought you were -" Now it's her turn to stop herself. There are certain things that are just better not said out loud. "I'm using every fiber of strength in my body not to freak out, Klaus. I'm not having a picnic here, I'm simply making an effort because I do not think that I'll survive this if I don't."

 

 

"Your chances of survival are far better than mine, love; you can rest assured of that."

 

 

Caroline's brow furrows in question. "What is that supposed to mean?" Klaus' eyes slid away from her, something quite clearly brewing on his disturbed mind that he's unwilling to share. It's so exhausting, this constant advancing and retreating that they do. Always holding back, tiptoeing around each other.

 

 

She approaches him until it's impossible for him to keep deflecting, forcing Klaus to look her in the eye again. If they're going to do this, then they're gonna have to find a way to make it work. "You still don't trust me, do you?"

 

 

This time he holds her gaze levelly, defiantly. "And why exactly should I do that?"

 

 

"Because you're _you_ and I'm me? If anyone should be wary here, it should be me."

 

 

"I find it quite interesting how utterly insincere you seem to believe I am. It would do you well to remember that I have not once broken my word to you. Whereas you, on the other hand..." Klaus says, arching his eyebrows at her in a very matter-of-fact sort of way.

 

 

"Are you still talking about that goddamn imaginary white oak stake?" she asks, hands on her hips as indignation begins to rise in her. "Jesus, Klaus. Let it go!"

 

 

"As a matter of fact, I have. That is not at all what I'm referring to here. Your memory is quite selective, isn't it? You are so quick to recount all of my wrong-doings, but seem so oblivious when it comes to your own. You and your friends have plotted my demise on so many occasions it's hard to keep count. Not to mention all those times when you oh-so-gladly volunteered to act as bait to distract me from your juvenile conspiracies. Should I keep going?"

 

 

Oh, she is positively riled up now. "I - You - That's not...!" Caroline falters, exasperated. The air of righteousness about Klaus is so unbelievable she can barely look at him. "You don't get to do that," she finally snaps, an accusatory finger pointed at his chest. "You tried to kill everyone I know - _several_ times. You do _not_ get to play the victim card here."

 

 

Klaus takes a decisive step towards her, pushing her finger back as he gets into her personal space, making Caroline swallow back all the outrage she was ready to voice out. He suddenly looks every bit the dangerous hybrid she remembers, his eyes dark and threatening of violence the same way that dark clouds threaten of coming storms. Caroline realizes for a fact that she is yet to understand exactly just what this man is capable of. And, more importantly, that she really doesn't want to find out.

 

 

"Tell me, Caroline," he starts, his voice low and hoarse, his apparent calm disguising none of the menace. "How am I supposed to believe that you aren't planning on leaving me behind once you figure out how to break out of this place?"

 

 

"I... I don't know what you're talking about," she stammers, with way less fire than she had just a moment ago.

 

 

"Don't you? Are you saying that it has not occurred to you how highly convenient it would be to escape from here on your own? How do I even know that's not what you're plotting right now in that beautiful smart head of yours?"

 

 

Caroline's brows snap together. She really hadn't thought about any of that, so worried that she was about everything else, but now that he's mentioned... She can kind of see how that would be a good plan, indeed. If she even had one to begin with.

 

 

"You're being paranoid. I can hardly understand what's happening here, let alone _plot_."

 

 

"Say your friends come to your rescue and decide to save you and you alone. What would you do? Because I can guarantee you I have no intention whatsoever of leaving you behind. But then again, I've given you enough prior evidence to support my words, haven't I? Do tell how I'm supposed to believe that you're not going to just turn on me if, or _when_ , the opportunity presents itself to you."

 

 

She's completely cornered here. While the idea may not have occurred to her, she can't say for sure that her friends wouldn't save her and leave Klaus to rot, given the option. In all honesty, she doesn't know she wouldn't do the same. No Klaus means Tyler gets to come back to Mystic Falls.

 

 

He's right - it is kind of convenient.

 

 

But there's a reason why she hadn't thought about it before. It might be naive on her part, but she's actually holding on to Klaus here for some support, flimsy and inconvenient though it may be. Even if she has to fight him every single minute of every single day she spends in this world, Caroline will do it and she won't back away because, simply putting it, she _can't_. She needs Klaus, and not just because she firmly believes that if one of them is likely to sort out their situation, it's definitely not her.

 

 

Caroline is terrified of this place, of how completely out of her control everything is, including herself. She hates how weak and helpless she is, how little she can do to defend herself if she has to. All her past insecurities that had died with her human self came crushing back onto her like a tsunami. A whole town full of familiar faces all around and yet she's never felt this lonely in her entire life. She's all by herself here. Except for Klaus. If he were anyone else, any of her friends, she would've probably broken down and cried her eyes out already, given in to despair; because he is who he is, however, Caroline is doing her best to be strong, holding on to every bit of courage she can gather within herself, every bit of hope. In a way, it's helpful that Klaus isn't someone she's comfortable baring all her vulnerability to. It's compelling her to find the fight to keep going.

 

 

Klaus is the glue that's keeping her together. It's absurd, but it's the truth. And he quite obviously hasn't the slightest idea of that. Which means she's actually doing a good job.

 

 

Possessed by an insane kind of courage but also completely aware of just how it might backfire, Caroline lifts her head and puffs out her chest, her face set to determination. For just a split-second, he seems taken aback by her sudden display of audacity, something like surprise crossing his eyes as he watches her with studious attention.

 

 

"Here's a lesson on making friends, Klaus. Trust is a two-way street. You want me to trust you? You have to trust me back. Like it or not, we're in this together. You need me just as much as I need you." _Not nearly as much_ , she thinks, but her voice does not betray her and remains steady. "We're gonna have to help each other out, and when you count on people, you can expect them to count on you as well. So I'm telling you I didn't think, _for a second,_ of leaving you behind. I still don't. And you're just gonna have to believe me."

 

 

He seems to mull over her words, his eyes searching her face for something. Caroline doesn't know what to show him, how to be any more open than she's already been, but she doesn't shy away from his scorching gaze, doesn't waver under the weight of his scrutiny.

 

 

"Swear it," he says after a spell. "Swear it on Tyler."

 

 

Caroline lets out a sharp breath that is the ghost of a laugh. He can't escape his villain instincts, can he? "You never listen, do you? I feel sad for you that this is the only way you know how to trust people. By threatening them."

 

 

" _Swear it_ ," he growls.

 

 

"Fine. I'll swear it on my boyfriend's life if that's what it takes for you to believe me. I swear it on Tyler. Satisfied?"

 

 

Seconds stretch into eons as Klaus continues to pierce her with his eyes, the air between them choked with tension. After what feels like long minutes, he finally seems appeased, and steps away, turning his back on her.

 

 

Discreetly, she puts a hand on the wall, leaning on to it for support. Caroline is finally able to breathe again.

 

 

"Since we're being honest with each other," he starts again, not giving her enough time to recover. Even his tone of voice is different already, like he didn't just threaten her and Tyler and who knows who else between the lines. How the hell does he do it? "Did you manage to uncover anything today? You were going to work on the Bennett witch, were you not?"

 

 

"Since we're being honest with each other," Caroline parrots. "Why don't you start by telling me what the hell you were doing at the Salvatore crypt last night? That was you, wasn't it?"

 

 

Klaus offers her no more than a cryptic smile before walking away, disappearing down the hall and into the living room. This ridiculous obsession with adding unnecessary drama to everything...

 

 

Resigned, she follows, and finds him pouring himself a glass of bourbon.

 

 

"Well?" She prods, hands on her hips.

 

 

"I have a theory," he says, settling down on one of the big chairs.

 

 

"I'm sure it's brilliant. Can't wait to hear it." Her words are drenched in irony, but she's not really lying. Caroline makes herself comfortable in one of the large couches, facing Klaus.

 

 

Klaus drinks from his glass, taking his time, a thoughtful expression on his face. "I believe we're trapped in some sort of illusion."

 

 

"What kind of illusion?"

 

 

"I couldn't tell. It could be a spell of some sort, I've certainly seen similar things in my time. But it would take a very powerful witch with very powerful resources to be able to perform a spell of this magnitude. I don't believe there's anyone currently in Mystic Falls with either the knowledge or the required skill to build an entire prison-world to keep us trapped in, and I can't find any reasons why anyone else, perhaps a foreigner who has just arrived in town, would want to target us both in particular. I am, however, very much aware that my list of enemies is long and ancient, so while I don't completely write off the possibility, I believe it is highly unlikely," Klaus explains.

 

 

"Ok. So probably not a witch. What then?"

 

 

"I'm sure you're familiar with the dream manipulations."

 

 

"Yes. But this is -"

 

 

"Not exactly the same thing," he cuts her off with a flowy gesture of his hand. "It's the same kind of telepathic ability, only in a much larger scale. Vampires are capable of creating illusions, sometimes building whole scenarios, or exploring existing ones taken from the memories of their victims. To use that kind of manipulation on another supernatural being demands an extraordinary level of telepathic abilities or an extraordinarily weakened target. Depending on varying degrees of the two, it's possible to create absolutely anything, to make one's mind believe whatever one wants. It's quite an ability if you can master it to perfection."

 

 

"What kind of creature would be able to do that to you?"

 

 

"My thoughts exactly, love. It would take a dangerous combination of several different elements for anyone to have this level of control over me. However, I can make an educated guess. I was just recently given a taste of someone's unparalleled psychic skills, enough to believe that he'd be capable of pulling this off, given the right set of circumstances."

 

 

"Silas." The name escapes Caroline's lips before she even realizes what she's saying. "I know he's powerful, but this is... Too much," she says, motioning her arms to mean all that surrounds them. "It's too real."

 

 

"And so was the splinter in my back, I assure you. I thought a lot about it, afterward. It's not every day someone gets in my head the way Silas did. He doesn't just build an illusion; he accesses our memories and uses it against us. He knew exactly what I'd expect from having a piece of the white oak stake digging into my flesh, and he used that to ignite the illusion. I did everything else by myself. His mind control has a kind of placebo effect. He suggests something - an attack or an injury - and then our minds do the rest, so he doesn't have to keep feeding the illusion. All he needs to do is plant it."

 

 

Caroline can feel the beginning of an epic headache brewing on the back of her head. "Wait. So. What you're saying is... We're not actually living any of this? This _world_ \- none of it is real?"

 

 

"If I'm right, of course. Like I said, it's a theory."

 

 

"Seems like you spent a lot of time on this theory."

 

 

"It's not so hard to make all the deductions once you have a starting point. It all makes perfect sense, really."

 

 

"I don't see how any of this makes sense."

 

 

"You're a smart girl, Caroline. Just think about it for a minute. You know vampires can create dream manipulations, you know Silas is a vampire with extreme psychic abilities, enough to deceit even me while in complete control of all my mental capacities. Put two and two together and you'll always have four."

 

 

"But you said it yourself. It takes a very weak mind for dream manipulations to work. How would he even get it to work? I don't remember being attacked. Do you?"

 

 

"No," Klaus says, his eyes distant for a second, as though he's trying to recover every bit of memory he has from before he woke up here. "If what I think is indeed happening, it's quite ingenious, I'll give him that. It would definitely take a highly debilitated vampire for this to work. In my case... It would take a nearly dead hybrid."

 

 

_Great_ , Caroline thinks. If Klaus is right - and she'd bet her daylight ring on him right now - then this is even worse than she thought. Worse than different dimensions, or something wicked being fed into the city's water supply or even a mass compulsion. If she and Klaus are being kept nearly desiccated somewhere, that means they're dying - well, she is, anyway. Unless Silas really did manage to get his hands on the white oak stake this time, which - if he knows who has the stake, and he apparently does, then it is perfectly well within his capacity to get it. Either way, they've been here for two full days already, and they're seriously running out of time.

 

 

"That's... I'm not... _Ugh_!" Caroline jumps to her feet and paces around for a moment, combing her fingers through her hair. She stops, turns back to Klaus and plants her hands on her hips. "How are you not mad? You're the one supposed to have anger management issues. How aren't you seething at Silas and his stupid little plan? We could be _dying_ right now."

 

 

Klaus may or may not be dying, but if he's right about all this, then there's no doubt about where she stands.

 

 

The fact registers on Klaus' face, as he suddenly looks more aggravated than a second ago. "Believe me, love, I'm burning on the inside with rage. I've just come to conclude that this is exactly what Silas wants, to watch me slowly lose all my reason and crumble into the depths of despair. I won't give him the satisfaction. But do not fret. We still have some time."

 

 

" _You_ have some time. Me, I'm not so sure."

 

 

"You're not going to die here, Caroline," Klaus says, very solemnly, holding her gaze with a kind of intensity that makes it impossible to look away. "I promise you that."

 

 

She doesn't know if it's the way his voice is steady and reassuring as he says it, like he's seen into the future and is absolutely certain of what he's saying, like there's no way anyone would ever dare to challenge his will, but it works. It's a promise; he's giving her his word, and for some reason she believes him, even though there's no hard evidence whatsoever to back him up at the moment.

 

 

Caroline feels the tension leaving her muscles, her body involuntarily relaxing. If she didn't know better, she'd say she was just compelled.

 

 

She gives him a brief nod in acknowledgement. "So. What's your magical solution? Did you find anything at the Salvatore crypt?"

 

 

"I was there testing my theory."

 

 

"How so?"

 

 

"A creation as grandiose as this is bound to have loopholes. This place is very carefully constructed, very detail-oriented. Not even the most powerful vampires can build a dream such as this and not leave bread crumbs behind. I just needed to know where to look, likely somewhere not built to draw too much attention. I'm sure there's a basic script here we're supposed to follow, and I figured, since Damon Salvatore is dead, he wasn't meant to be a part of it. His coffin was a good place to start searching."

 

 

"And what did you find?"

 

 

"Nothing."

 

 

Caroline frowns. "How does that prove anything?"

 

 

"I found _nothing_. The coffin was empty. Not even a single bone. As I suspected, there are loopholes, and if there are loopholes, it means I'm on the right path. This place isn't real, we're not really here. We're just being tricked into believing that we are."

 

 

"But... Before, when you thought he'd staked you, all it took for you to snap out of it was getting your mind off of it for a second. We started arguing and that was it. The pain was gone and you knew it wasn't there. Now you're saying you _know_ for a fact that it's not real and we've had our... Differences. Shouldn't it have been enough? Shouldn't it be over?"

 

 

"It's different. This isn't just an illusion, it's a dream. We're _in_ it. And likely too debilitated to get out on our own."

 

 

"So - what? We can't get out? Is that what you're saying?" Caroline can feel anxiety rearing its ugly head inside her again. And Klaus probably does too, because he gets up, pours a second glass of bourbon and offers it to her, his eyebrows arched in a way that says _You really need this_. She doesn't thank him, just takes the glass and downs it all at once.

 

 

"I never said we can't leave. It's just going to take a bit more effort, I presume."

 

 

"Like what? We need a plan."

 

 

"Believe me, love, I'm just as frustrated as you are that I do not hold all the answers in the world. But I suspect what we need here is a trigger."

 

 

"A trigger?"

 

 

"If we're in a slumber, we need to wake up. But we can't just decide to stop dreaming. We need something to pull us out of it, to make our minds understand that they're supposed to be waking up."

 

 

"What could possibly do that?"

 

 

"A spell, for instance. It would have no actual effect, but it could work as a placebo of sorts."

 

 

"Oh!" Caroline exclaims, flailing. "Damn it, I came here just to tell you this and you almost made me forget! Goddamnit, Klaus."

 

 

"Off with it."

 

 

"I know where we can find a witch."

 

 

"Your friend Bonnie?"

 

 

"No, not Bonnie. Well, not exactly. Her grandmother. Bonnie doesn't know anything about magic, but she mentioned her grandmother used to talk about it when we were kids. And apparently everyone in the family thinks she's insane, so I'm taking it's because she's a witch."

 

 

"I thought Grandma Bennett was dead."

  


"She was. Is. But not here. She's very much alive," Caroline says. And then, after a beat, "There's only one problem."

 

 

"Of course there is."

 

 

"She's not in Mystic Falls."

 

 

"Well? Where can we find her?"

 

 

"New Orleans. Bonnie said she lives in New Orleans."

 

 

Caroline watches as a complex set of emotions cross Klaus' face. New Orleans has a meaning to him, something bigger in the grand scheme of things.

 

 

"What?" she asks. "What is it? What do you know?"

 

 

"I..." he starts, stops, like the words are getting lost somewhere between his brain and his mouth. Klaus Mikaelson and his extravagant vocabulary, bereft of words. Now that has to be a first. "It makes sense," he completes after a moment. "New Orleans is brewing with witches. It is home to dozens of covens, all sorts of magic practitioners. It makes sense she'd be there if she suddenly saw herself out of a coven in Mystic Falls."

 

 

"Ok," Caroline says, nodding, not entirely sure he's telling her the whole story. Whatever. She’s not going to care about that right now. They have a lead and they have a plan. That’s gonna have to do for now.

 

 

They need to get to New Orleans.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So... Thoughts?
> 
> I really have to remind you all of how important your reactions and comments are. Everyone says that, I know, but it's absolutely true: what keeps people motivated to write fanfiction is knowing that there are other people out there who want to read it. I understand if you don't enjoy the story or don't think it's worthy of your comment or reaction or whatever, totally cool! But if you do enjoy this, if you do want me to keep going, please, let me know? It really, really is what keeps me motivated to keep going with the stories. I'm not a BNF or one the best writers out there, and I understand I arrived really late to the party, but I really enjoy talking about canon and fanfiction and that sort of stuff. Anyway! Sorry for the interruption, and if you've made it this far, thank you for reading!


	4. She Puts the Weights Into My Little Heart

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As always, I apologize for any mistakes you might find. English is not my first language and the story is not beta'ed.

Caroline doesn't have a headache through sheer force of will.

Right now, she'd say about 4% of her is human. The rest is a combination of stress and heavy doses of anxiety.

She thought she was being so smart by convincing Klaus that they should wait until morning before leaving on their road trip to New Orleans. _"We're humans now,"_ she said. _"I'm exhausted and you were just passed out from sleep deprivation a minute ago. Neither of us is fit for a long drive in the middle of the night."_

Klaus argued that they aren't _really_ humans and that they wouldn't _really_ be driving, if his dream manipulation theory is correct. Caroline doesn't even think of it as theory anymore; she's completely embraced it as absolute truth, given the lack of anything better, or anything _at all_ , to believe in. Which kind of gives him good points. But Caroline is still not keen on finding out what happens if they get themselves killed in Silas Land. 

Everything in that place feels real - the people, the sensations, even time. It's enough for Caroline to be wary. And besides, if Klaus really is correct, the whole point of it is to cheat their brains into believing that it's real, that they're humans and therefore mortal. And it's working. Slashing her hand open hurt like a bitch; she can certainly do without a car accident, thank you very much.

Caroline didn't think anything could possibly be tougher than talking Klaus into doing something he doesn't necessarily agree with having nothing practical to offer him in return, just sheer reasonable argumentation. She was wrong. As it turned out, breathing sense into Klaus wasn't even the worst part. If there's a way to make things harder and more torturous than they have to be, trust Klaus to find it.

She isn't sure what gave him the idea that she was going to stay for the night, but that's what he expected her to do because when she announced she was going back to her own house, Klaus snapped. Her refusal to sleep at the Mikaelson mansion sparked yet another vicious clash, just when she thought they'd exhausted their daily quota for petty fights.

What she thought was a simple, innocent desire to have a good night of sleep in the comfort of her own bed was all it took for Klaus' inner paranoid hybrid to come alive all over again. She was going to sneak out in the middle of the night, take the chance to ditch him and go after Sheila Bennet on her own; she had manipulated him into divulging all the information she needed to work on her escape plan; she'd given him the wrong directions just so he'd never be able to follow her; and she'd come up with all that backstabbing plot in the 15 minutes it took him to explain his theory.

It took every ounce of strength in Caroline's body, and then some, not to walk out of his house right there and then and really go her own way.

She is honestly not even sure she understood everything he told her, all the bits and intricacies of his logic. She's way too tired, way too confused and way too desperate to register nuance. Instead, Caroline chose to blindingly trust that he knew what he was talking about because a, as much as it pains her to admit it, he normally does, and b, if anyone is going to know enough about the lore surrounding the workings of an ancient supernatural being is probably another ancient supernatural being. But apparently the trust thing does not go both ways where Klaus is concerned.

Needless to say, she came very close to smacking him on the head more than a few times. Some monks wouldn't have displayed the same level of self-control she did, given the absurd accusations she was showered with. Klaus' first impulse is always to assume the very worst, which is not only infuriating, but also insulting. Klaus is _exhausting_. Always doubting, second-guessing, never placing his faith in anyone but himself. What an empty, lonely immortal life he must lead.

Caroline had to point out the obvious fact that she never had to tell him anything about Sheila Bennett, if her idea was to betray him. She could've just pretended she hadn't heard anything useful from Bonnie and he would never know she was gone until it was too late.

All she wanted was a good night of sleep in the comfort and safety of her own bedroom, but after his little tantrum she refused to stay out of spite, too. She told him to stand guard outside her window if he was so skeptic, but she would not, under any circumstances, sleep under the same roof as him.

Half of her expected to really find him standing like an angry watchdog on her front yard. Caroline wouldn't put it past Klaus to be exactly that kind of creep. Surprisingly enough, he did not show up and she chose to see that as progress, however flimsy.

She half expected to find him standing on her front yard like an angry watchdog when she woke up - she wouldn't put it past Klaus to be exactly that kind of creep. Surprisingly enough, he was not there. Deep down he probably knew she was right and that's what she's choosing to believe - progress, however flimsy.

Now, however, as she watches the police car parking right next to hers on his driveway, Caroline wonders if maybe it wouldn't have been better to let Klaus have his way. As much as the thought of being controlled by him drives her out of her mind, being confronted by her mother this morning while she packed a suspicious bag of clothes and toiletries was much, much worse. Suddenly, she can't imagine why it'd seemed so terrible to pick one of the dozens of empty guest rooms in that mansion for one single night. It certainly would've saved her from the pain of going through a very embarrassing questioning.

Caroline's number one rule growing up was _never give the Sheriff reason to suspect. Never_. Being a teenager at the house of Liz Forbes was no walk in the park. If she'd been aware of all the supernatural shenanigans surrounding Mystic Falls when she was younger, Caroline would've thought her mother to be a psychic of some sort. Her sixth sense for bullshit was just unbelievable. Sometimes all it took for her to know Caroline had done something sketchy or was hiding something from her was a single look. 

To this day Caroline isn't convinced that Liz giving her the talk on the woes of teenage pregnancy on the exact same night she lost her virginity was just a coincidence.

The two of them didn't always see eye to eye. After her father left, things got strained and weird for a long time. Not all of it was Liz's fault; Caroline was intent on being the clichéd difficult teenager for a while there. Becoming a vampire was a blessing not so much in disguise. It brought them together in ways they hadn't been since Caroline was a child. 

With the blessing of hindsight, Caroline can see that her mother wasn't always terrible as she'd make her out to be. Mostly, she was quite fair, if a bit too fussy - but again, she's a mother who's also a sheriff, that was bound to happen. It could've been much worse. She could've been paranoid and short-tempered, like a certain Original vampire for instance. Or paranoid, vindictive and extremely powerful, like said Original's own mother.

The one thing Liz could not stand was being lied to, and the art of tricking her mother is one Caroline never quite mastered. At some point she just gave up trying. Half her high school life was spent being drunk, sorry for herself or sucking face with some useless shit. Sometimes all at once. And it never mattered how out of her way Caroline went to hide the evidences of her misdemeanors, Liz _always_ knew. So what was the point?

Many years, a vampire transformation and a dream world later, and that hasn't changed at all. 

Next time she'll listen to Klaus.

"Is he home?" Liz asks, joining her by the door.

Really, she just made it so easy for Liz. It did not take any sixth sense for her mother to realize Caroline wasn't planning on going to school. And since this world's Caroline's life seems to revolve entirely around Klaus, absurd though it may be, it didn't take much for her mother to make the link.

_"You haven't been acting like yourself lately, Caroline. And I know it has something to do with him - don't even try to deny it,"_ she said, giving her those eyes that Caroline knew oh so well. The ones that _demand_ to hear an explanation and will not accept anything other than the truth. Except the truth in this case is kind of complicated. It's not like she can just tell her mom that she comes from a different world where she's a vampire and Klaus is something way worse and the reason they've been acting all sneaky and secretive is because they're trying to go back home.

Her hesitation translated to her mother as a confession that she is, in fact, pregnant with Klaus' baby, which - _"Ew, mom! No! God!"_. So she was kind of forced to come up with some other explanation that could quench her mother's concerns.

For the second time in less than 24 hours, Caroline used her fake relationship with Klaus as an excuse. She said they were going through some rough patches (technically not a lie) and that they were keen on working things out together (a slight exaggeration on the _keen_ part, but true enough). The bag was just a few essentials she wanted to have at Klaus' place because they wanted to spend more time together to work on their situation (vague, but fundamentally real, unfortunately).

Her mother was relieved to know there were no unexpected grandkids on the way, but it did not make her any less discontent. Caroline had to sit back and listen to a lecture on how stupid it was to let her senior year go to waste on such a crucial time because of boyfriend trouble. There are grades to keep, colleges to think of, side projects to conclude, a cheerleading squad to captain, a graduation committee to lead and a prom to happen in a just a few days. " _This is not the time for you to be losing your mind over some guy, no matter how dreamy he may be._ "

And, well. Dreamy part aside (Caroline will _never_ get used to the way people talk about Klaus in this place), it kind of stung to hear all that.

The starting point for Liz's speech was a well-crafted distortion. Caroline's really fighting for her life here, not for a relationship, so clearly there's a difference in the scale of things. Her mom doesn't know any of that, so Caroline shouldn't really take anything that she says under consideration. Except it wasn't far at all from the things Liz keeps reminding her of in real life.

Her mother's in too deep on the vampire world not to be concerned. She's past doubting her daughter's character and good intentions, past thinking that she's turned into a monster, but she's still not 100% sure that it isn't a possibility. She's close friends with Damon, which is weird as hell; she's seen Stefan with his emotions flipped off; she's seen what Katherine can do; Klaus and the whole freaking Original family. That's enough to leave anyone traumatized. All things considered, Liz takes it wonderfully well. But she's seen it with her own eyes and felt it on her skin all the tragedy that's made its way back into Mystic Falls just because vampires decided to come home. Even the purest of hearts aren't safe from the kind of destruction that vampirism might cause, direct or indirectly - just look at Elena. 

So Liz takes it upon herself to remind Caroline that she still has a life to live, and that she should do it with as much normalcy as she possibly can. At least for now, while it's still an option for her, before the fact she isn't aging starts raising eyebrows around. She is always talking about the importance of cultivating good memories, things that she can take with her forever, to remind her of who she was before all this mess. She tells Caroline to keep her two feet on the ground, to not lose touch with her hopes and dreams, to not let it get tarnished by the darkness that constantly looms over her. " _That's what makes you who you are, darling. That light you have. Don't ever let it go out._ "

Caroline likes to think that her heart is still in the right place. That all the pain that she's caused and had to endure in her short life as a vampire hasn't changed her that much. Her plans are still pretty much the same; she's looking forward to her prom, she wants to graduate amongst the best in her class, she wants to go to college and find an occupation that she loves. But it would be very hypocritical of her not to admit that her perspectives are not the same as two years ago. 

Building a long career, getting married, having a family - none of that's on the plate for her anymore. Sure, there's a plethora of new doors open to her now, the future's bigger than it ever was. But whatever she does, wherever she goes - she'll still need to dream herself some new dreams, because the old ones just won't do anymore, can't be stretched far enough to fit into how unnaturally long her life will be, and that will mean erasing bits of her old self. 

No matter how hard she tries, she won't be able to stay Liz's little girl forever. And that's always been the part of herself that Caroline was proudest of, the best part.

And knowing that just kills her.

After all that speech and Caroline's monumental effort not to fall apart in front of her mother, Liz was still not satisfied and insisted on speaking to Klaus in person. " _Nik and I have an understanding, Caroline, but I'm not sure he still remembers it. This is an important time for you and if he can't be there the way you need him to be, then I'm not sure he can be there at all._ "

Well, fuck. Who the hell talks like that to Klaus Mikaelson and lives to see the next day? 

Caroline is terrified of what Klaus will do to her. He'll certainly not hesitate to put a knife through her heart if he thinks she's a waste of their time. The level of danger here is just as great as it would be in the real world, against the hybrid Klaus. Maybe even greater, considering his temperament seems to be stuck on Terrible Mode. 

Caroline doesn't care that this Liz is theoretically not real. She'll murder him with her bare hands before she lets him touch a hair on her mother's head, fake or not. But she'd really rather not have to come to that. She needs Klaus intact. For now.

"Mom, seriously. This isn't a good time. He won't listen to you. We had a terrible fight last night and he'll be all cranky and awful. Let me fix this and then you can talk to him all you want. Please."

"Good Lord, Caroline. I'm starting to get worried here. You make it sound like you're dating a terrible man."

_Oh, if only you knew..._

"It's just a really bad time."

"Honey, I know you think you're an adult already and you know everything, but you don't. I'm still your mother. And I will talk to your boyfriend, whether you like it or not. You don't have to be here if you don't want to."

"Like hell I don't." Bracing herself for what's to come, Caroline opens the door and lets herself in. Normally, she would've knocked at the very least. But if she means to avoid the worst of this confrontation, she'll have to find a way to give Klaus a heads up, ask him to _please, please, please_ be cool and play along.

The smell of food immediately fills her nostrils as she enters the house. Her stomach growls; Caroline forgot to eat, what with her mother's lecture and the melancholy and worry that followed. She chases the smell all the way to the kitchen, and stops dead on her tracks when she reaches the threshold.

Klaus is standing in front of the stove, a towel thrown over one of his shoulders, the sleeves of his shirt wrinkled up to his elbows as he dexterously breaks an egg with just one hand into a frying pan, all concentrated on twirling it around with the rest of the ingredients like a pro. 

The sheer domesticity of the scene is astounding. It's just so... Normal. Her idea of Klaus has always been of something so inhuman, so unreachable and distant, that she could never even imagine him doing something even remotely as ordinary as fixing himself some eggs for breakfast. It never occurred to her that, at some point, in the middle of all the murder and the blackmail and the hybrid breeding commitments, Klaus is still a person. In some ways. Maybe. Well... He's got to eat like everyone else, bathe, sleep, brush his teeth, wash his hair, shave. But not even going on what was actually a rather nice date with him seems as surreal as this.

Caroline stays very still, feeling very bashful, like she walked in on a very private moment, something that sheds a light over a simple and trivial part of Klaus that he probably doesn't want anyone to know exists. He likes to be perceived as a mythical creature of bloody legends. But the Klaus that cooks while completely oblivious of being watched is just... Mesmerizing.

"Wow! That smells fantastic!"

Her mother's arrival completely breaks the spell, startling Caroline back to awareness. She got so caught up on the scene she forgot they had company - and that she had something to do. But no one looks more alarmed than Klaus, who grabs the pan by the handle like he's ready to use it as boomerang to rip someone's head off. 

"Sheriff Forbes," he says, his eyes electric as they move from Caroline to her mother, all suspicion.

"I tried to stop her." Caroline steps forward and in front of her mother to shield her from Klaus' potential wrath. If he wants to hit Liz he'll have to hit her first. "She's just worried about me and wants to talk to you. She means no harm."

"What are you doing?" her mother asks, holding her by her shoulders and turning her gently to look her in the eye. "Nik and I get along just fine. I'm not going to point a gun to his head, if that's what you're worried about."

"No one's going to be pointing guns here," she says, looking at Klaus with an emphatic eyebrow cocked. "Or any other weapons, for that matter."

Liz shakes her head at Caroline and turns back to Klaus, whose eyes are slightly narrowed at them, still on guard but obviously very lost.

"I'm sorry, Nik," Liz continues. "Sorry to barge in. Are you busy?"

"I..." Klaus looks at Caroline inquisitively, his brain trying to catch up on what exactly is going on. "Not exactly. I was just... Making breakfast, I suppose."

"It smells incredible," Liz offers, smiling.

Klaus looks down at the pan still in his hand like he forgot that it was there before putting it down. "Can I offer you anything?"

"Oh no, thank you. I can't take too long, I have to be at the station. I just wanted to talk to you, but I promise it'll be fast."

Caroline gives him a very pointed look, somewhere between a plea and a threat, and hopes that he understands the message. Klaus wipes his hand on the towel he had on his shoulder and leans back against the counter. "Of course."

"I understand that you and my daughter are having some issues," she starts.

Klaus looks at her, a question on the slight arch of his eyebrows, and Caroline shakes her head vehemently.

"That's one way to put it." 

"And that you have some sort of agreement on how to solve your situation, which involves her spending more time around here."

"You could say that."

"Well, that concerns me. We've always had a good relationship, Nik, but do you remember the conversation we had when you two started going out?"

"Oh my God..." Caroline mumbles painfully under her breath, burying her face in her hands to spare herself the look she _knows_ Klaus is giving her right now.

"Pardon me, Sheriff, but I don't think I recall which conversation you mean."

"About Caroline's priorities. I know you have good intentions, but Caroline's on her senior year. She needs to take it seriously. Her prom is at the end of the week, graduation shortly after. There's a lot she needs to be focusing on right now."

"... All right."

"I was very reticent when she started dating you because of the age gap. You've been through this phase already, but she hasn't. You have to understand and respect her moment and you promised me that you would. That you wouldn't force her to burn steps and move faster than her own pace just to match yours. Remember?"

"Absolutely. That definitely sounds like something I would agree to. No burning steps." Caroline almost lets out a bark of laughter at the obvious irony in his voice, but she holds it back. For all her investigative talents, however, her mother seems completely oblivious.

"So please, let her focus, Nik. Whatever issues you two have right now, work it out fast or put it on hold. Or I'm sorry, but I won't be able to support this relationship anymore."

"Oh, Jesus Christ," Caroline mutters, wishing that a hole would open under her feet and swallow her away from that place right there and then. 

"Relationship?" he parrots, and she swears she can hear the amusement in his intonation. She can certainly feel his eyes burning on her. 

"Do I have your word, Nik?"

Caroline hears movement and finally can't help looking up. She jerks forward as she sees Klaus approaching her mother, ready to attack, but she stops just short of it. His gaze is fixed on Liz, but they're almost... Kind. The gentle curve of his lips almost genuine. No hint of sarcasm or derision whatsoever.

"Elizabeth," he says, taking her mother's hands in his, looking straight into her eyes. "I will take very good care of your daughter. I promise she'll get to enjoy whatever time she still has left on her senior year and she'll be there for the prom of her dreams. You have my word."

Caroline gapes.

He's faking it, of course he is. It's all a theatre to get rid of her mom as fast as possible. But _holy shit_. He's done it _beautifully_. Caroline can see it in her mother's bewildered expression and sparkling eyes that she's fallen victim to the Mikaelson charm. Hell, even she fell for it. He's played the devoted boyfriend part he didn't even know he had so well that Caroline feels stupid for worrying so much. His improvisation skills are impressive.

Liz cups the side of Klaus' face with one of her hands and Caroline shudders. This is all too... Unexpectedly intimate.

"You're a sweet man, Nik. Thank you. Now sort out whatever quarrel you two lovebirds have, will you?"

"Oh, we will. Won't we, love?" Caroline can feel her cheeks burning up as he turns to her, a self-satisfied smirk plastered on his face.

"I'll give you five minutes to talk," her mother says. "But you have to get to school, hear me? No excuses."

"Ok, mom."

"Have a good day, Nik. And I'll see you later, sweetie."

Caroline doesn't know where to hide her face when her mother leaves. It was probably not as terrible as having a bloodbath, but it wasn't that much better. The second they hear the front door closing, Klaus erupts with merry-eyed laughter.

"What are you laughing at?!" she bellows, slapping his arm. "That was not funny!"

He reins in his laughter and tries to put on a more serious face. "Not funny at all."

"I'm serious!"

"Of course, love. It was dreadful."

He manages to keep his expression impassive for just another beat before bursting into helpless laughter once more. It's another beat before Caroline chuckles and then the two of them are laughing together. It's hard to tell what's more absurd about all that.

"That was not... It was not funny, Klaus," she repeats, in between waves of laughter. 

"Oh, I think it's hilarious."

"I'm glad my misery amuses you."

"Not your misery, love. Just your despair. I could barely contain myself."

"Oh, ha-ha," she says, chuckling again immediately after. It was kind of funny, in a torturing, outrageous sort of way.

"Did you know about that?"

"About what?"

"Our _relationship_ , of course." Klaus arches an inquisitive eyebrow at her, prompting Caroline to roll her eyes at him.

"It might have come up," she grudgingly admits.

"And you didn't think to mention?"

"Why? It wasn't relevant."

"You hurt my feelings, love."

"And you're a pedophile, dating high school girls."

"Well," he says, turning back to his frying pan. "Everyone is too young for me."

"That was the single most embarrassing moment of my life," she sighs. "I can't believe my mother gave _you_ the boyfriend talk."

"If it makes you feel better, I appreciated every minute of it."

"And here I was worried that you were going to stab her with a kitchen knife."

"I'd never hurt your mother, Caroline."

"Why not? You certainly don't have issues hurting people's mothers. Or legal guardians, for that matter."

"You do like to bring that up, don't you," he remarks, bitterly. "I happen to think your mother is quite a formidable woman."

Her brow wrinkles. "Really?"

"You don't believe me?"

"Well, I certainly know how formidable my mother is, but... Why do _you_ think that?"

"Because she's raised a formidable daughter." He doesn't miss a beat as he says it, all matter-of-fac. "I remember when she invited me into your home, when you were bitten by Tyler on your birthday." _On your command_ , Caroline thinks, but decides not to remark on it. Clearly it hurts his feelings every time she brings up the terrible things he's done. Normally, she'd give no flying shits to Klaus' sentiments, but right now she'd rather keep the good vibes going for a while longer, if she can help it. They're probably going to need it. "There wasn't a shred of fear or hesitation on her. Your friend Matt wasn't all too keen, but your mother didn't think twice before trusting her most valuable treasure to me. I recognize courage when I see it. Your mother has it in abundance."

Caroline smiles in spite of herself. "She is very brave." 

"I can admire that. Even when she's using her parental authority to chastise me."

Caroline laughs again. "God, I wish I had someone I could text to share this with right now. Just one person would be enough. Preferably Rebekah. She would never let you hear the end of it."

"I'm afraid I wouldn't let you, sweetheart," he says, transferring his omelet to a plate. It looks just as nice as it smells. "I have a reputation to uphold. Now, do you care for some omelet?"

"Are you making one for me?"

"Didn't you just hear me tell your mother that I'd take good care of her daughter?"

Caroline rolls her eyes at him, but can't quite keep the little smile that spreads on her lips. "Just give me the omelet, please."

All things considered, the day might turn out not to be a complete disaster yet.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I cannot stress how important your feedback is. I've said it before and I know it's boring to say it all the time, but your feedback is really the only way I have to know if there's anyone still reading this story and/or interested at all in learning what will happen. So please, if you do enjoy it, drop me a note. If not here, you can find me on tumblr @ galvanizedfriend. 
> 
> Thank you for reading it! :)


	5. Follow the Yellow Brick Road

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As always, I ask you to kindly forgive all the mistakes you'll surely find. English is not my first language and this chapter hasn't been beta'ed.
> 
> Thank you to everyone who's still reading this and for the kind comments. <3 It was your feedback what got me excited to work on this story a bit more this week. :) I still wait for your comments! Let me know how you feel about this story! Comments are life!

Klaus is resoundingly silent.

Caroline isn't really sure what she was expecting a 13 hours road trip next to _His Royal Evilness_ to be like. Granted, it's not something she actually spent any time contemplating before. Getting herself stuck with Klaus for an extended period of time in a small space is not exactly the stuff of her dreams.

Whatever she did expect, however, it was definitely not this. 

_Silence_.

Bracing herself for the road ahead involved some serious psychological preparation on Caroline's part. She made a promise that she would keep her cool and not spend 13 excruciating hours bickering and exchanging garish accusations with Klaus, otherwise they'd be at each other's throats before they crossed the halfway mark to New Orleans. Somebody has to be the sensible adult and Caroline can't realistically expect someone who's never been sensible before in his life to suddenly fill the shoes, can she? So the responsibility falls entirely on her shoulders. There's a lot at stake here, she has to keep her eyes on the prize and play nice.

Caroline was ready for Klaus' worst - or as ready as she'd ever be, anyway. But for someone who enjoys the sound of his own voice as much as Klaus does, he's been awfully quiet. Last time Caroline heard anything from him was right after they finished collecting their things for the trip and headed for the car, when she announced she was not gonna let him drive. She anticipated some protest and was ready to rebuff it by pointing out that he was doing this whole being human thing a lot worse than her, even after a whole night of sleep and some proper food, but she didn't even have to waste her breath. He merely hummed in agreement and dutifully climbed on the passenger’s side. Not a hint of displeasure whatsoever. Not really much of a hint of anything, really. Unexpected, sure; puzzling, yes; but not unpleasant.

Four hours later, however, and not a single word has been uttered yet. No comments, no questions, no complaints, no threats, not even an acknowledgement. It's like he's not even there. Or rather, like _she_ isn't.

Every now and then Caroline turns to check on him, to see if he's fallen asleep, but his eyes have been wide open the whole time, lost in some distant thought as he stares out the window. It's like looking at a marble statue; he's barely moved a muscle, his face a perfectly blank and unreadable mask.

In theory, this should be perfect, right? If you absolutely have to put up with a road trip with Klaus, this is exactly how you'd want him to be. Barely there at all. Except for some reason his silence is bothering her to no end. Caroline is so fidgety that she's on the verge of saying something preposterous and insulting just to get a reaction out of him. _Any_ reaction will do. She just needs some human interaction.

Klaus is terrible at a good many things, but his social skills are only bad when he wants it to be - which, admittedly, is almost always - as she can attest after their _date_ during the Miss Mystic pageant. It was a revelation to find out he is perfectly capable of being well-behaved and actually _nice_. It's painful to admit it, but that was probably the most pleasant afternoon Caroline's had in a _very_ long time. Everyone was out to get her that day, _except_ for Klaus. 

But she's not even asking for nice Klaus right now. She'll take insufferable Klaus as well. Moody Klaus. Sarcastic, pedantic, infodumpy Klaus. Inconveniently flirty Klaus. _Any_ Klaus will do. Anything is better than drowning in this stillness. 

Quiet environments and potentially deadly situations is a winning combination for her anxiety to strike. Before she realizes what she's doing, Caroline's trying to remember what was the last thing she said to her mom, who was the last person she spoke to or what was the last message she left on Tyler's voice mail. Was any of it meaningful? Did she remember to tell them that she loves them? Or was she mad, frustrated, lashing out because some random person at one of the graduation committees was making stupid suggestions and trying to ruin her perfect prom dance? Has anyone even realized that she's gone, or are they all too busy with other more important things to notice her absence? It's been three days already and it does not seem like anyone is doing anything about it. She's going to die in this place, with Klaus as her sole witness, and he's not even _talking to her_.

God, it's just too freaking much.

" _Four hours_ ," Caroline blurts out.

It takes Klaus a moment to register that she's spoken to him. She notices out of the corner of her eyes when he turns to her, still in a bit of a daze, confusion clouding his face. "What?"

"We've been on the road for four hours and you haven't said a single word."

"I didn't realize you wanted to chat."

"I don't. But that doesn't mean I like the silence either. It's too unlike you, it's making me restless."

Her looks away from her like he's already considering the conversation to be over. 

_Oh no, you don't_

"What are you thinking?" Caroline insists.

"Nothing special."

"Just amuse me, Klaus," she says, sounding slightly more pleading than she'd like. "You're all contemplative there. There's something on your mind. Should I be concerned?"

She hears as he inhales the air and lets it out in a long, weary sigh. "I'm thinking of New Orleans."

"What about it?"

"What it'll be like when we get there. What we're going to find."

"Do you think it might be a trap?"

"I do, as a matter of fact. I don't think it's a coincidence."

"Coincidence? How is New Orleans a coincidence?"

There's a pause, a lengthy one, during which Caroline finds him staring absently out the window again; his mouth, pressed to a hard line, the only thing betraying any emotion. She's starting to think he won't answer her question when he says, "I'm... Very intimate with the city."

"How intimate?"

"It was my home once."

"Wait. Seriously? You _lived_ in New Orleans?"

"I did more than that. I built it. You can say that I was one of the founders."

Caroline's jaw drops. Her face snaps towards him, in shock.

"Eyes on the road, love."

"You're joking. _You_ founded New Orleans?"

"Well, technically there were settlers there before my family arrived, but it was nothing. We built it from the ground up, made it into the great city that it is. It was a refuge for supernatural creatures back then. Vampires, werewolves, witches - covens and packs and solitary wanderers, all coming together," he explains. And then, as an afterthought, adds, "There were humans too, of course. We needed to feed, after all."

"When was that?"

"The 1700s."

Caroline huffs out a bark of a laugh. "That's unbelievable."

Klaus finally turns to look at her again, smiling. "You'd be astonished by some of the things I've done."

"I'm sure I would." Caroline shakes her head in disbelief. She's so used to thinking of the Original family as troublemakers and psychopaths that she forgets how long they've been around. It's impossible for them to have spent all this time murdering, pillaging and being generally awful. They wouldn't have lasted so long like that. They must've done at least a few interesting things here and there. The things they must've seen... If Klaus wasn't such a demon, she'd love to sit around a fireplace and listen to his stories with a glass of wine in her hand. He sounds like he'd be a great storyteller, with the flair he puts into everything he says and that accent that makes anything sound better than it really is. Then again, if he wasn't such a demon, that's probably not the only thing she'd like to do with Klaus, being perfectly honest. 

Before her mind starts treading towards dangerous territory, she asks "Why New Orleans?"

"I don't know. We'd been in Europe for centuries at that point. We figured it was time we returned to the New World. There was a lot of talk about the colonies, it sparked our interest. Seemed like the perfect place to hide. We'd caused quite the stir in Europe, so we had to lay low for a while, try not to draw too much attention to ourselves."

"Three wealthy Europeans traveling with heavy luggage and leaving a trail of blood wherever they went? How hard can it be?"

"It's why we decided to stay away from the busy centers. More prying eyes, greater temptations, word gets around faster. So we chose somewhere smaller, emptier, with not many inhabitants, so we could shape it to our liking, build it to our tastes, and not bear many bothersome witnesses."

"Why did you leave?"

Klaus sighs, and when he starts talking again, it's in a serious, grave tone. "We made a mistake. Got too comfortable, let our guards down. Word did get around, eventually, and Mikael found us, like he always did. He burned the city down, killed everyone we knew, forced us to flee and scatter across the earth once more."

Caroline wants to stop the car just so she can actually _look_ at Klaus right then, to identify every bit of human emotion betrayed by the lines of his expression. She can only steal quick glances at him, has to keep her attention on the road, but she can tell that there's an altogether different kind of dark cloud lurking over his head. He doesn't sound angry and dangerous, he sounds... Sad. Nostalgic. With a lot of regret. 

His eyes look far away again, like the memories are all coming back to him. 

"Did you... Did you lose someone... Important?" she asks, tentatively.

"Yes," he replies, without missing a beat.

Caroline feels her guts clench. She's seen Klaus in pain, she's seen him hurting, she's even seen him in grief. But this is different. It's a greater kind of sorrow. Whatever happened in New Orleans, it left a deep mark on him. 

She suddenly wants to reach out and offer him some comfort, some sort of support. She did force him to talk, after all. But she has no idea what she could possibly do. Everything she can think of seems awfully frivolous and silly. The idea of having a parent who hates you and wants you dead is not foreign to her, but Mikael and Esther were on a league of their own, and the Mikaelsons had to live with the weight of that hatred for a thousand years. She can't even fathom the kind of damage that must've caused over the centuries. No wonder they're all so bitter and broken. 

Stefan was right; the difference between them and Klaus is that they all had family and friends they could hold on to through the harder times, people they loved enough to keep their humanity in check and their hearts in the right place, while the Mikaelsons basically had to write the book on immortality and vampirism while running for their lives.

"I'm sorry," she says very earnestly, but feeling terribly inappropriate at the same time.

"There's nothing to be sorry about, it was a long time ago," Klaus replies, snapping back into his regular self mode. All that anguish of a second ago completely gone. "The thing is I never went back to New Orleans after that. And I wonder what Silas has in store for us."

_Oh no_ , Caroline thinks, already dreading the thought that begins to form in her head. "You don't think... Mikael?"

"It's possible."

"Klaus..." Caroline starts, glancing at him. "He's dead. If he's there, it means this place is definitely not real. He can't hurt you anymore."

"It's not me I'm concerned about," he says, his dark eyes fixed on her. 

_Oh._

Well, that's certainly a thought. Caroline can see how having her killed by the hands of Mikael right under Klaus' hopelessly human nose would be a wickedly clever way to get back at him. She doesn't like it, would have some points to raise on how she's not at all that important - really, how is a guy having the hots for her suddenly enough to make her the focus point of some revenge plot? - but she can kind of see the reasoning behind it.

What doesn't add up in all of that is that Silas is probably the only creature in the entire planet that shouldn't have any reasons to hold a grudge against Klaus. He was buried long before Klaus was even born and remained so through the thousand years of pain the Original hybrid inflicted upon the human race. Why would he want to hurt someone he technically doesn't even know?

Maybe it's an ego thing. Silas woke up to find out some witch, some thousand years after him, decided to recreate the immortality spell and brought an entire cast of new vampires into this world, who then proceeded to take over all the credit for being the original ones. 

Personally, she would rather not find any other Mikaelsons in New Orleans and just get on with what they need to do as fast as possible, with as little hassle as possible, preferably drawing as little attention as they can. One Original for company is frankly more than enough.

"He won't touch me," she tells Klaus, with determination. She may be human but she's not a damsel in distress and she's not looking forward to dying in Silas Land. Caroline will fight tooth and nail if she has to, and she's not afraid to get dirty. "I may be powerless, but I'm not completely useless. I can take care of myself."

"I know you can," Klaus says, very solemnly. "It doesn't mean he won't try."

"I don't plan on dying if I can help it."

"You're not dying in this place, Caroline, I told you already. I won't allow it."

She flickers her eyes to him and sees the determined set of his jaw. Their eyes hold for a moment, many unspoken things passing between them. Klaus has the annoying effect of leaving her off balance sometimes, when he says things like that without the slightest bit of affection. Like it's the simplest, most obvious truth in the world: he won't let any harm come her way, not under his watch.

It's almost comforting to believe him.

"Well," she starts, turning her attention back to the road. "I'm not interested in letting anyone die, either. So we can agree on that. I'm not dying here," she says, suddenly feeling more energetic and bold, full of a confidence she thought she'd lost when she woke up as a human. And then she adds, with just as much certainty, "And neither are you."

 

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

After more long hours of silent contemplation on the road, Caroline starts to feel plagued by the effects of her human condition again. If she were to offer a self-diagnose, it would go as follows: Exhausted. Starving. Homesick. Full of regret.

She wants to keep going, but it doesn't take long for her to accept that they're not going to make it to New Orleans today. It was too bold a forecast for a pair of prostrated former vampires. Klaus is already far gone, sleeping with his forehead against the window glass. They'll have to stop somewhere for the night.

She hasn't seen any hotels or even motels in a while and is frankly starting to get worried that they might have to pull over and sleep in the car by the side of the road. There are hundreds of teenage horror movies that start exactly like that. Sheriff Forbes would go ballistic on her daughter if she knew.

She considers waking Klaus up to ask for an opinion for about two seconds before realizing that he'll be firmly against the idea of stopping. He'll either force her to keep going or he'll take the wheels himself and frankly, she's not sure which way will get them killed first.

Nope, not an option. It's best if he stays asleep until she finds somewhere to make a pit stop and give him as little window for objection as possible.

The sun has already gone down and Caroline's legs are starting to cramp up when she finally spots a gas station with an open convenience store. 

She gets out of the car as quietly as possible not to disturb Klaus and starts to refuel before heading inside, where a lone vendor is sitting behind the tiny counter, bored out of his mind. She gives him her best Miss Mystic Falls smile and starts inspecting the shelves. She'd kill for a grilled cheese or a hamburger right now, but the best she can find are chips and some chocolate. It'll have to do.

She fills a basket with as much as she can carry and heads to the counter, where the guy is eyeing her with sheer awe, almost like he can't believe she really just walked in. He's nothing special, really, forgettable features, thinning opaque hair, oily face, but his reaction immediately improves her spirits. It's good to know she's still got it, even as a human.

She pays for the gas and the chips, and the guy tells her the chocolates are on the house, which she thanks him for with yet another practiced, shiny smile. When she asks about hotels in the area where she could spend the night, he starts talking about how he lives just 15 minutes away and has a spare room in his house. From sweet to creepy in a second.

"Oh. That's very nice of you. Thanks. But, uhm... I'm with my boyfriend. He's in the car," she says, pointing towards Klaus' SUV outside. The guy looks harmless enough, he probably doesn't really mean anything by it, is really just pushing his luck, and Caroline is grossed out by using Klaus as her boyfriend, but, well. You never know. She hadn't felt the classic insecurities of being a young woman traveling by herself in a very long time. The last had been years ago, when she took the bus to go to Memphis to visit her dad and his boyfriend. So all in all, she's glad to have Klaus as backup.

The guy visibly deflates at the word _boyfriend_ \- works like a charm - and tells her there's a motel about 30 minutes ahead on the road. "It's decent," he tells her. "Not good enough for a girl like you, but it's the only motel in the area, so it's usually packed. It's cheap, too." 

_Great_ , she thinks. Her and Klaus and a cheap motel. That sounds like _fun_.

Caroline thanks the man and heads back to the car. She stops to finish up with the gas pump and is momentarily caught by the sight of Klaus' sleeping form, completely undisturbed, like he hasn't got a care in the world. 

It feels different from when she found him unconscious in his library. There was something haunted about him then, like he was sick or dying. Now Klaus still looks like he has a serious vitamin deficiency, but he's also serene, peaceful, which is not something Caroline thinks she's ever saw on him. Not a single trace of his customary rage or wickedness or even the sadness he had in him as he spoke of New Orleans right before he fell asleep.

Quite the opposite. Klaus looks... Young. So, so young. Caroline's so used to thinking of him as an old beast that she never really stopped to realize how young he was when he was turned by his mother. There are very faint lines at the corners of his eyes, if she looks for them, but that's all. In everything else, he's a handsome young man. Klaus is very full of himself, but he doesn't exactly act like he thinks he's irresistible. He's tried to seduce Caroline several times, but he usually does it with the promise of world wonders and art and adventures, not with his thick eyelashes or his ridiculous dimples. He's got mirrors, so he knows he's hot, of course he does, but it's like he thinks that's the least impressive thing about him, which... Well. It's up for debate, in her opinion, but also something of a turn on. A guy who looks this good but does not rely on his appearance to get a girl's attention is... Not something that you see all the time in the XXI century. Not that she'll ever tell him that.

There's a strange surge of fondness spreading through her as she runs her eyes over Klaus' sleeping form. His peace has a calming effect on her. It almost makes her want to keep this safe, keep him safe, protected from the demons that inhabit his mind and the black hole in his soul that seems to drag in all of the evils of the world, just so that this serenity will never be disrupted.

Anyone looking at him like this way would have a hard time believing all the terrible things he's done, all the violence and aggression he's capable of. It's the irony of the century - of the millennium, to be more precise - that Klaus was born blessed with such an angelic face. 

_What the hell are you thinking, Caroline?_

It's all the proof she needs that she's in desperate need of finding somewhere to rest her eyes for a while when she begins to put _Klaus_ and _angelic_ together in the same sentence. She's starting to lose it.

With a slightly annoyed sigh and a shake of her head to clear the thoughts away, Caroline walks around the car and gets back on the driver's seat. She opens one of the chocolates and stuffs the whole thing in her mouth, a frown of determination scribbled across her forehead as she starts the car and gets back on the road.

This day cannot be over soon enough.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have no idea how long it actually takes to go from Mystic Falls (or what would be Mystic Falls, approximately) to New Orleans. Vampire Diaries makes it seem like it's a 30 minutes ride. So if you're actually more knowledgeable than I am and think this number is completely wrong, I blame Google Maps. For the sake of storytelling, I'm sticking to it because it suits me, more or less.


	6. Do I wanna know?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As always, I remind you that English is not my first language and the story hasn't been beta'ed. I apologize for any mistakes you might find.
> 
> This chapter was a b**** to edit. I rewrote several parts, but the core remains the same. 
> 
> Last time I uploaded this part people had lots of FEELINGS about it, and not all of them were good. Your feedback is very, very, very important. So please, if you're still reading, drop me a note! :) Let me know what you think! It's ok if you hate it, I just ask that you be polite and respectful about it.

Caroline adjusts the duffel bag on her shoulder and steps gingerly into the room, with a sulking Klaus close behind her.

The Original went from angelically calm to bestially outraged in the space of a second when Caroline woke him up to inform they'd be spending the night at a motel. As she suspected, he was firmly against the idea of stop-overs. Caroline had to put her foot down and refuse to continue before dawn, all the while resisting the urge to thump him on the head with something heavy enough to knock him out for a few hours.

In classic Klaus style, he didn't go down quietly and without a splash of emotional blackmail, making it clear that she'd be to blame for each and every tiny eventuality from then on. Like her harmless and extremely necessary decision to call it a night could somehow affect the entire fabric of space and time from there to the end of the world. Talk about blowing things out of proportion. He is lucky Caroline is way too tired to give him a real piece of her mind. She's pretty sure hell is a place where you have to go on never-ending road trips with Klaus and his 180 mood turns.

She can feel the dagger-filled glares boring holes on her back, but she does her best to ignore it. The sight of what is to be their refuge for the night isn't exactly appealing and Caroline does not want to question whether having that argument with Klaus was worth it.

Because of course there would only be one room available and they're gonna have to share it. That's just how fortunate she is.

The guy at the gas station was not lying; this really is the only roadside hotel for miles. They'd have to drive for hours or venture into one of the close-by little towns in order to find something else, and Caroline didn't feel like doing either. They needed something fast and practical.

Naturally, the place is packed. In a way, it's lucky they even have empty rooms at all.

Their options were caving in to Klaus' tantrum ( _no_ ), taking a double bed ( _absolutely not_ ) or a twin beds room.

Caroline was ready to tell the lady at the reception that _of course_ she'd be taking the two beds, but Klaus beat her to it, much to her surprise. "I do not have a death wish, love," he added as an explanation the receptionist never asked for.

The woman smirked like she thought it was cute, that they were having some sort of disagreement - which, technically, they were, just not the kind of disagreement she was thinking.

"We're not together." Caroline felt compelled to clarify, and not only because the woman obviously got the wrong idea, but because Klaus sounded way too much like he'd rather sleep in the car than share a bed with her, which was kind of insulting. It's not like she was begging to share anything with him, much less a bed.

"That's your problem, sugar. Here's your key."

Caroline snatched the keys out of the woman's hand and stomped out. Klaus was waiting for her outside, still pouting like a spoiled kid whose mother had just refused to buy him a toy at the store.

"Don't flatter yourself, Klaus. I was gonna ask for the separate beds."

He smirked. "Are you hurt, love?"

Caroline scoffed. " _No_. I'm just spelling it out, in case it wasn't obvious enough, since you seem to have a hard time taking a hint. Clearly you wanted the woman to think I was trying to get you in bed."

"But you are."

"Am not!"

"I wanted to keep driving. You're the one insisting on stopping at this appalling excuse for a hotel. So, technically, you are."

"Just... Shut up, Klaus." Before he could offer another one of his snarky, provocative remarks, Caroline raised a palm on his face to cut him off. "You're welcome to spend the night in the car, by the way. _I_ need a bed."

Her expectations weren't exactly high - the lack of competition around the area gives the place leeway to be just as cheap and unimpressive as it wants to be and still attract all the clientele. But if the outside appearance isn't exactly striking, the inside somehow manages to be even worse.

The room is bare in a way that it makes Caroline wonder whether they've thrown out all the furniture. It's small, but not unbearably so, with just the two twin beds and a single nightstand between them. The walls are painted in such a weird shade of pale yellow that she thinks it might've been white at some point, some very long years ago.

There are no desks, no closets, no nothing. Just an old wooden chair next to the bathroom door and a solitary lamp on the nightstand as the only piece of decor. Even the curtains look odd - terribly cut and smaller than the window it's pretending to cover.

It really is a dump.

"I hope the accommodations are up to your standards, sweetheart," Klaus says in a mock-tender tone that makes her want to punch him. He flops down on the bed under the window and it makes a high screeching noise under his weight. "Delightful. If I have trouble sleeping, all I have to do is count all the springs on this mattress. I can feel each and every one of them."

Caroline rolls her eyes, leans her head back and makes an 'aaaaaaargh' sound in her throat. "Can't you play nice for once?"

"I am playing nice. I'm sure you'd be able to tell the difference if I wasn't."

"Really?" She drops her bag on the other bed and turns to him with her hands on her hips. "So you're just this much of an ass by default?"

Klaus looks at her just then with amusement, like he's actually _having fun_ picking on her. The corner of his lips quirk up into a crooked smile that is pure mischief, and Caroline realizes that this is his way of getting back at her for making them stop - by being so annoying she'll eventually regret disagreeing with him in the first place.

When she stops to think about it, that is Klaus' modus operandi in basically everything. If he doesn't get his way, and can't just kill whoever refuses him for whatever reason, he'll just harass the shit out of that person until they'll agree to anything just to get rid of him.

Caroline feels a chuckle trying to escape her mouth. Not in a merry or a funny way, just at the absurdity of the situation and how easily she fell for it. The thing at the reception, saying she was trying to get him in bed, now this... The cheekiness of that bastard.

She wants to laugh, but she refuses to give him the satisfaction, so instead she looks away, starts searching through her things. "You know, Klaus. I'm the only thing even remotely close to a friend you have right now and I have half a mind to punch you in the face, so I'd tread carefully if I were you."

"Somehow I don't think that's true."

"You're human. I'm a cheerleader. I can take you. Try me and see if I won't."

"Is that a challenge?" He leans back on his hands and cocks a mildly-interested eyebrow at her.

"No. It's a threat. You're well acquainted with those, aren't you?"

"Not the variety that involves cheerleading skills, I'm not."

"That's right, I forgot. You're practically a cave man, too old to know what cheerleaders do."

"Have you brought your pom-poms by any chance, love? Perhaps you can give me a demonstration."

"Oh, wouldn't you love that."

When she turns back to him, Caroline realizes that the atmosphere of hostility in the room has shifted, morphed into a relaxed kind of banter. Klaus is looking at her a little delighted, a little fond and a little something else she doesn't really understand. Prefers not to, actually. Suddenly, the room seems way too small for the two of them.

It's not unusual for them to have this kind of laid-back interaction. She allows Klaus to waste her time with mildly-flirtatious conversations because it wastes _his_ and keeps his attention trained away from her friends, who are usually doing something that requires Klaus to be distracted. It's not the worst thing, if she's honest; for someone so anti-social, he certainly knows how to keep a conversation going if he's interested enough. Under normal circumstances, though, their interactions more often than not end in spars, with one or both of them yelling at each other's faces.

This, however... Feels very different from that. Caroline didn't even realize that they'd gone from complaining and being petty to flirting in one very smooth flow. She tries to disguise the sudden wave of embarrassment and turns back to her bed, pointedly avoiding meeting his gaze again.

"I should call the police on you for kidnapping a high school student. They'd have you shipped off to England in a second."

"That would be a problem, seeing that I'm not actually _from_ England. I was born here."

"Oh, yeah. So American with that Southern drawl."

"I've been told my accent is quite captivating."

"Try captivating the police. They'll _love_ it."

Klaus lets out a long and hearty laugh, and the sound sends a bit of a tingly sensation up Caroline's spine. He looks good laughing. The sound and the dimples and how his eyes crinkle, what it does to his face; he looks joyful and unthreatening, even younger. More open. It's a bit like Stefan, when he isn't being broody and emo. Like a completely different person. Only Stefan doesn't normally look like he wants to murder half the world's population.

The room is suddenly starting to feel claustrophobic.

"I'll take the bathroom first," Caroline announces, grabbing her stuff and shutting the door behind her.

 

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

 

She takes her time in the shower. Not only because it's a good way to avoid Klaus, but because it's actually not half bad, as far as terrible motels' showers go, and Caroline was in desperate need of some hot water magic.

Her muscles are tight and sore from the tension of the day and all those long hours on the driver's seat. Right now she'd say what she misses the most about being a vampire is the lack of discomfort. Having her neck snapped or getting staked or fired at - it hurts like a bitch, but it's just this explosion of pain that goes away almost as fast as it comes. It's the little, persisting things that are a real nag - headaches, tired muscles, stiff necks and cramps. It just wears you down. No wonder people are terrible all the time. It's impossible to be happy like this.

She puts on her pajamas, suddenly very glad that she remembered to pick sweats and a loose t-shirt rather than just grab the first thing she found, which could've turned out to be highly inappropriate. She's still a bit hungry, even with all the chips, but she's way too tired to go searching for something with more substance. Her stomach will just have to shut it and wait 'till morning for proper food.

When Caroline finally leaves the bathroom, she's half-ready to give an unpleasant answer to Klaus and whatever tasteless remark he'll surely make about her long shower, but finds him soundly asleep instead. He's lying on his side, with his head on the pillow and his cell phone still clutched in his hand. Didn't even remember to remove his shoes, it's like he just passed out again.

This is weird, isn't it? He's been sleeping _a lot_. She hasn't been feeling the greatest either, goes through her days in varying degrees of weariness, but Klaus seems to be taking it a lot worse. It's as though he can't control it, not even a little bit. Being a thousand-year-old original vampire suddenly depleted of his powers is taking a hard toll on him. Klaus can't handle his human body, keeps running out of energy faster than a toddler.

"Do I look like a freaking sitter?" she mutters under her breath as she approaches him. Leaning over his bed, Caroline pulls the curtains as tightly shut as possible to block out the light coming in from the outside. Gently, she pulls the phone away from him; he nuzzles his cheek against the pillow, but doesn't wake up. Since he's lying on top of his own duvet, Caroline takes hers to cover him up to his waist. Klaus looks like he needs it more than she does, all curled up as he is. It's warm enough in the room and human Caroline hates the heat more than she hates the cold. She'll be fine with just a sheet.

Caroline wonders if they shouldn't be more worried about this. Everything they think they know of what's happening to them indicates that she should be the one suffering the most, but so far it's been clearly the other way around. Klaus doesn't really look like he's _sick_ per se, but he seems... Fragile. Or at least more fragile than he's ever been before. Like someone who hasn't been keeping very healthy habits, which, considering she's only ever known him as an all-mighty beast, is a sizable difference.

Either they're completely wrong and none of what they theorized is true, which means they're screwed; or something really, _really_ bad is happening to Klaus out in the real world, which makes them even more screwed.

The thought of losing Klaus to whatever has been consuming him makes her shudder. At the same time he drives her out of her mind, he's also the only thing keeping Caroline from spiraling. It's actually the perfect paradox; bad with him, worse without him. She has been making all the small decisions, paying attention to details Klaus can't bother with and that would likely screw them up royally if overlooked, like when to stop and rest or what to eat. But the big things, the things that really matter and are either going to get them out or doom them for all eternity, that's all up to him. And as much as Caroline likes being in control, it's a relief to have someone else there who commands enough authority to make these calls.

If she'd been trapped here with anyone else, Caroline wouldn't be able to relax for a second. She'd take it upon herself to figure everything out, chase after all the clues, and make sure they were all safe and well stocked. It's just the way she is. A control freak who worries too much.

With Klaus, however... It's different. Almost easier, in a way.

It's completely insane, she _knows_ that, but there's a part of her that's willing to trust him blindly. A part of her that believes he can get them out of there, that he won't let her die. It's just words and it's just Klaus, it shouldn't mean anything to her, but for some reason it does. She feels reassured by his centuries-old wisdom. If anyone's going to crack this puzzle and get them out, it's him.

So the thought of losing Klaus and being left to fend for herself... It freaks her out.

She finds herself unable to look away from him, suddenly worried that if she turns the other way, if she lies down and shuts her eyes, something bad is going to happen. He'll stop breathing, or his skin will turn grey and he'll desiccate, or simply vanish right out of thin air. But as the clock ticks and nothing happens, she relaxes again. Klaus remains peacefully asleep, totally unaware of being watched.

It dawns on her that this is the most vulnerable she's ever seen him. He's human, weakened and in a deep slumber. It's the third time in as many days that she's witnessed this scene. The first time he was clearly angry he got caught with his guard down, uncomfortable with her presence in a moment of involuntary exposure. At the time, she was fuming at his ungratefulness and unasked for rudeness, but she kind of understands now why he acted the way he did.

Klaus probably never sleeps in front of other people. Not if he can help it, anyway. And only does so with an eye open. Backstabbing and deceit have been a part of his day-to-day life for a thousand years. Even his own family has turned on him and tried to take him out - not without reason, mind you, but still. He didn't trust that she wouldn't do the same. Why would he? She certainly didn't trust him.

At some point, though, he must've stopped feeling under immediate threat or like she'll abandon him the second the opportunity arises, started letting his shields down around her, when it's just them. In his own twisted way, Klaus has begun to trust her. He doesn't seem to care that she'll find him asleep anymore; just lies back and shuts his eyes.

She wonders vaguely how long it must be for him since the last time he was able to really rest, go to sleep knowing that no one would try to put a dagger through his heart. And she can't help but feel like, if she were in his place, if she'd been alive for as long as he has, she'd act the exact same way.

Caroline tries to picture the feral hybrid she knows, the evil beast who ruined Stefan's life for fun and murdered Elena's aunt in cold blood. But all she sees is the man who knocked on her door to feed her his blood and save her life on her birthday - true, it was his fault she lay dying to begin with, but he didn't have to heal her; she meant nothing to him in the grand scheme of things, there was nothing to gain from keeping her alive, and he did it anyway. He sat next to her and spoke so softly about the wonders of the world, things that were worth living for. It was a side of him she never expected to see, didn't even think existed. She sees the guy who helped her escape from Alaric, looked deep into her eyes with concern etched onto every line of his expression and told her to run and hide. She sees the guy who risked all his plans just to save her from the vampire hunters who would've probably killed her. The guy who fought down all his instincts and let Tyler go because she asked him to.

Caroline takes it all in. How peaceful he looks as he sleeps. The way his shirt collar is pulled in a manner that reveals the beginning of that tattoo of his. How long and fair his lashes are, brushing against the top of his cheeks. How his lips look fuller slightly parted. How she wants to reach out, stroke his face and the side of his neck, curious about what his stubble must feel like under her fingertips. How maybe she'd also like to touch his bottom lip with the pad of her thumb because it looks so soft, and then follow up with her mouth.

_Wait._

_What?_

She sits up straight as though she'd just received an electric discharge, feeling betrayed by her own mind. There's a burning feeling radiating from her chest outwards, all the way to her cheeks.

The sheer unpretentiousness of the idea, the suddenness of it, finds Caroline cold, and then the heat strikers her with full force. It's like the thought has always been there, dormant on the back of her head, unnoticed but as natural as her next breath. Obvious, simple, incessant, instead of completely insane and preposterous.

Klaus always made it so easy for her to keep it on the forefront of her mind just how absolutely terrible he is. He always comes up with new and refined ways to reinforce the notion, takes pride in boosting his bad reputation by feeding his sheer incapacity to resist cruelty whenever the opportunity arises. For every good deed, every moment of unexpected tenderness, every word that finds echo deep inside Caroline's chest, there are ten, twenty, a _hundred_ more screaming the exact opposite.

Here, however... She's finding it harder and harder to not let her resolve falter.

 _No, no, no_ , Caroline repeats in her head, like a mantra. Maybe if she thinks hard enough, long enough, she'll be able to erase the thought off her mind, pretend it was never there.

It's been a long day, she's tired and confused and it's this place, messing with her head. That's all it is.

Klaus moves a little, just a tiny flexing of his fingers, but it sends Caroling jumping. She lies down facing away from him and pulls the sheets over her head, feeling a lot hotter than she did a minute ago, counting the springs on the mattress to quiet her loud beating heart and force herself into sleep.

 

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

When she comes to the next morning, she's momentarily thrown, unsure of where, when or how. Warm sunlight is pouring in through the window and she stirs in her too-small bed for a moment before finally blinking away sleep and realizing the room smells like food and coffee.

Her whole teenage life Caroline wished for nothing more than a housemate who'd make her coffee in the mornings. She became way too addicted to coffee way too soon in life - a necessity that is also reminiscent of her drinking binges. Her father was the morning coffee guy. Before he left, Caroline remembers waking up to the smell of strong, black coffee every day. More often than not, it was just the two of them having breakfast together in the kitchen - him with his large dented mug in one hand, reading the newspaper, pretending to listen to her incessant babbling about something or another. _"Yes, honey, your braid looks very pretty. Oh, I can't believe Elena said that. Of course your drawing is the best, you're a natural."_

He took the chatty breakfasts and the coffee scent with him when he moved out. It was the first big thing to strike Caroline as a child, the first empty hole she couldn't get herself to fill in his absence, how the house was always quiet and never smelled of coffee anymore.

Liz was always big on not wasting any time being home if she could be at work instead, so she always preferred to have coffee at the station, where someone else always has a fresh pot ready and waiting for her before she arrives. Perks of being the sheriff and all.

Caroline took it upon herself to make her own coffee once she was old enough to understand the coffee maker. It disappeared from the kitchen after her dad left and for a long time she thought he'd taken it with him, until one day she found it in a box hidden in the attic along with several other belongings that he didn't think were important enough to take with him - like his daughter, for instance.

She dug the coffee maker out anyway and pretended not to notice the hurt in her mother's eyes when she saw it back on the counter, acted like it had never gone anywhere, and they never really talked about it. Years later, when the damn thing broke down, Caroline cried like she'd lost her dad all over again, like she hadn't cried on the day he walked out the door with his suitcase in hand because surely he was going to come back, her dad would never leave her, how could he? Liz found her reduced to tears years in the making on the kitchen floor, put her arms around her shoulders, pressed her lips to the top of Caroline's head and said _'I'm so sorry'_. They put the coffee maker in the trash and went out together to get a new, much improved one, and it felt like the end of something, the beginning of something else.

Still, she never stopped longing for the days when she'd wake to the coffee scent filling the entire house, to someone else's presence in her mornings, waiting for her with a smile on their face, asking if she'd slept well.

Caroline smiles lazily into her pillow, pleased with her good fortune, until the details finally trickle back and she remembers where she is - and, more importantly, with _whom_.

 _Oh_.

Klaus is sitting on the foot of his bed with a takeout bag on his lap, eating with such gusto that Caroline is afraid to move and interrupt his moment. You'd think Klaus has managed to find the world's best breakfast place ever, the way he's devouring what seems to be scrambled eggs and bacon.

All the hunger she didn't satisfy the day before comes back with full force and Caroline finds herself salivating. She's wondering whether there will be anything left in Klaus' bag for her when she spots a second one next to two large cups of coffee on the nearby chair. God, she could kiss him right now.

_No. No kissing. There will be no kissing._

"You eat like an ogre," she says hoarsely, still in her sleepy voice.

"Good morning, love," he greets her, wiping his mouth with a paper napkin. "Pardon my manners. I didn't realize I had an audience."

"So you only pretend to have manners when you're in front of other people," Caroline quips, sitting up on her bed.

"You'll have to excuse me. I've never really fancied fried bacon before," he says, by ways of justification. "I always thought of it as the foodstuff of barbarians. So disgustingly unrefined. But now, it's just..."

"Fatty?" Caroline offers, knowing exactly what he means. As a proud representative of the barbarians, she loves bacon, but it stopped being as appealing after she became a vampire. Vampirism takes the color off of regular food.

She feels a little sorry for Klaus as she realizes he's basically never tasted _anything_ as it's meant to taste before. He's been a vampire since before good food was invented. He's probably had a bit of everything, and it's all very fine and all, but not _great_. Not _perfect_. Not like blood. The guy didn't know what a piece of well fried fatty bacon tasted properly like until right now.

No wonder he's so cranky all the time. That's just sad.

"I never really understood you, modern day Americans," he says, forking another piece of bacon from the plate in his paper bag and looking at it with sheer adoration. "This is exquisite. Wars have been fought and empires fallen for less than this greasy piece of heart attack."

Caroline chuckles. "Someone's in love."

He glances at her with a smirk on his face that Caroline can only describe as _filthy_.

So she looks away and pretends to be engrossed with getting out of bed instead. "No judgement here. Food is the only thing that is guaranteed to never break your heart. I feel the exact same way about French fries. "

"I have eaten some of the most unique delicacies prepared by some of the best cooks human kind has ever known." Caroline almost rolls her eyes at him. Trust Klaus to be dramatic even when he's talking about bacon. "But nothing's ever been quite as good as this. I'm livid."

"Let's remember to write Silas a thank you card when we get back, shall we?"

"Of course. Right after I remove his liver through his mouth."

"Argh, stop. I haven't eaten yet and I'd very much like to. By the way, you wouldn't happen to have anything there for me, would you?"

Klaus nods his head towards the other bag. "I didn't know what you like, so there's a bit of everything. There's coffee too - mediocre in comparison to the bacon, but it does the trick."

Caroline skips her way across the room, barely able to contain her excitement. There's eggs, bacon, pancakes and some waffles drenched with what she confirms is very decent strawberry jam by sticking her finger in it, making a loud pleased noise in her throat as she licks it clean.

"Oh my God, I _love_ -" Caroline catches herself right before making a terrible mistake. "Waffles. I love waffles." Klaus is still digging through his food, attacking the eggs now, and thankfully doesn't seem to have noticed her near slip. "Thank you."

He mumbles something indistinct in acknowledgment.

This kind of little thoughtful gesture is the sort of thing you'd expect from almost anyone, but definitely not from Klaus. Maybe being human has softened him a little. She wonders if it'll stick, when they get back. _If_ they get back.

In a scale from one to Klaus, Caroline would give him a solid 5, which greatly exceeds expectations. She'd say he's actually being rather well behaved, all things considered. She was very much prepared to have the worst experience of her life on the road with him, but so far he's been passably tolerable. Well, the fact he spends most of the time sleeping probably helps a lot.

She hides behind the hem of her coffee cup - which, he's right; it is very much on the disappointing side, but still hot and strong, so it'll do - as she watches him finishing up his breakfast, wiping his hands on the napkins and then fishing out his phone from his jacket pocket.

He looks fresher than he did yesterday. More well-rested and fed, possibly in a better mood, though that kind of thing tends to change faster than the wind with Klaus. His hair is still slightly wet from the shower he must've taken before she was up - and Caroline swiftly decides that that is something she does not want to be thinking about.

All in all, he seems _fine_. But she can't quite shake this nagging impression that there's something not quite right with him. She just can't put her finger on it.

"Do I look different?" she asks.

"What do you mean?"

"My appearance. Do I seem different?"

"You look beautiful, Caroline," he says, not even bothering to look up from his phone.

She sighs. "Just... Can you tell there's something wrong with me?"

Klaus lifts his gaze to her, inspecting her face for long seconds in a way that would make her feel self-conscious if she hadn't just asked him to do it. "Why? Do you feel anything?"

"No. Do you?"

"I'm fine," he says, his attention moving back to his phone like he's suddenly lost all interest in the conversation.

"That's not what I asked."

"I feel wonderful."

"You don't look wonderful. You look sick. Are you sick?"

"I'm human."

"A sick human, maybe."

"That's all one and the same to me," he says, hollowly.

Caroline doesn't fail to detect that his mood has immediately taken on a downturn as she started to inquire about his health. She doesn't know what it is, but she knows there's more to it, and his evasiveness rubs her all the wrong ways.

"Seriously, Klaus. You don't look so well."

"I'm tired."

"How can you be tired? All you do is sleep."

"I'm tired of all _this_."

"And why do you think that is?"

"I can take a wild guess here and assume that maybe it has something to do with the fact that I haven't been human for, I don't know... A thousand years, give or take? Could be a coincidence, though. Perhaps I just have the flu."

Caroline decides not to dignify his sarcasm with a direct answer. "What about your hand?"

"It's where it's always been."

"You really are a child, aren't you?" She shifts on the bed, moving to sit facing him, putting her food away momentarily. "Let me see it."

"Why?"

"How many times have you changed that bandage?"

"Enough. What are you playing at here?"

"I'm not playing at anything. Just let me see it."

Klaus lets out a pained sigh and puts out his injured hand for her to check. It doesn't look too bad - definitely not as well bandaged as when she did it for him, but clearly he has been addressing the cut. Her own hand doesn't hurt so much anymore, most of the time she doesn't even remember it's injured, but his wound was way deeper than hers. It's just like Klaus to think himself above pesky things such as bacteria. That would explain why he looks sickly.

Gingerly, she lifts the edge of the gauze expecting to find a carnival of infection, but it looks fine. Clean and healing and perfectly dressed.

"Huh," she murmurs.

"What?"

"I thought it'd be terrible, but it looks good."

"As I told you." He pulls his hand back and fixes the gauze.

Sitting as close as they are now, she can clearly see how ashen his complexion is. It's just not right. "Do you have a fever?"

Klaus grunts in annoyance. "I didn't realize I had a nurse for travel companion." Before she can open her mouth to retort, however, he decides to be done with the matter and move on to a different subject. "Your mother sent me a text."

"My mother?" Caroline frowns before she remembers that, in this world, her mother is actually in close communication with _Nik_. "What did she say?"

"She states very emphatically, in no ambiguous terms, that she wants me to return her daughter, I quote, _or else_. Apparently I've kidnapped you."

Caroline exhales loudly and shakes her head. She should've guessed her mother would overreact. She'd dutifully turned off her phone as soon as they left Mystic Falls precisely because of all the haranguing phone calls she was not looking forward to send directly into voice mail. Looking back on it, it would've probably been a good idea to answer at least one of those.

"What are you doing?" Klaus asks as she retrieves her phone from her bag

"I'm sending her a text."

"Why?"

"Because she is a sheriff and could easily escalate the _or else_ to higher authorities that would have your face on a wanted sign printed all over the country for abducting a highschooler?"

Klaus narrows his eyes at her. "I haven't abducted you."

"Very perceptive. But I suggest you try sounding less menacing and more convincing when the police come for you."

Caroline starts typing frantically on her phone, looking for the right words to calm her mother down a little.

" _Hi, mom. Sorry about the phone, battery died. Kla-"_ She stops, shakes her head, erases the last word and goes back to work. _"Nik just told me about the text he got. I'm fine and perfectly safe and definitely not kidnapped. There's something we need to do first, but I promise I'll be back home soon and I'll explain everything. Love you so much!"_

Caroline hasn't even finished eating her first piece of waffle when her mother replies.

" _Is he forcing you to type this? Or is that Nik using your phone?_ "

"Oh, God..." Caroline mumbles under her breath. _Sheriffs..._ She snaps a quick photo of herself smiling and sends it to her mother. The reply comes a second later.

" _Where are you? I'm coming to get you right now._ "

" _I'm ok, mom!! Overprotective much?! Everything's fine, promise!_ "

" _I don't like this!_ "

She's beginning to type in another reply when her mother sends, " _Are you two getting married?_ "

Caroline almost spits out a mouthful of food.

"What?" Klaus asks.

"My mother thinks we're -" she stops, looks at his expectant face and considers how much information is too much information to share with him. "Running away. Together. You know," she explains vaguely.

"Well, she's not wrong."

"Except that she is. I'm not running away _with_ you, I'm running _back_ home... Alongside you."

Klaus smirks, but doesn't look up. "Of course."

" _No!!! NOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!! N O W A Y"_.

" _I promise I'll be back home really, really soon. But you'll have to trust me, ok?"_

There's a longer interval before the next text arrives, which suggests that her mother's hesitant.

" _Don't take too long. And don't let your battery die again. I wanna be able to reach you."_

" _And tell Nik that he's on probation. That's his second strike. Another one and he's out."_

Caroline chuckles. " _Oh, he knows he's in trouble. XXXX_ "

"My mother says you have one more strike left before you make it to the sheriff's black list. I wouldn't try my luck if I were you," she tells Klaus, biting on a fat, rich piece of bacon. It's much better than she remembers.

"Why did you have to talk to her?"

"Because she's obviously worried."

"She's not your real mother."

"She may be an illusion, but she's still my mother. Aside from the fact that she calls you Nik, I can't tell the difference. There isn't a single world in existence, real or not, where I wouldn't care about her. It doesn't cost me anything to let her know my psycho boyfriend hasn't killed me yet." Caroline punctuates her sentence with a pointed arching of her eyebrows, and watches as the smirk is immediately wiped off of Klaus' face.

He is the very definition of Mommy Issues, so conversations like that probably touch directly on the raw with him. Although, considering his mother tried vehemently to kill him and all his siblings, maybe he should be over that by now.

"Anyway," she says around a sigh, by means of drawing a line under the subject. She continues to inspect her phone and realizes that her mother was far from the only person stalking her.

"I got _dozens_ of messages." Bonnie. Elena. Even _Stefan_. The irony of the situation doesn't go by unnoticed. She's had moments in the last few months of feeling like crap and in desperate need of a friendly shoulder to cry on but had to suck it up and go sulk on her own because everyone always has something more important or life-threatening to deal with. In Silas Land, however, all it takes for everyone to come rushing to her aid is magic boyfriend Dr. Klaus to cheat on her. Maybe she has better friends here than in real life. "Apparently it's all Bonnie's fault. She couldn't keep her mouth shut. Told everyone that you kidnapped me because I broke up with you."

"Now why would she say that?"

"I... Might have told her that we were... Having certain issues."

"What kind of issues?"

"Why do you care?"

"I'm bored, love."

Caroline considers her answer for a moment. She did turn him into a bad guy in a world where everyone and their sister seem to love him. That probably warrants him an explanation. "Well," she starts as she types a quick answer to Bonnie. "If you really must know. You're a jerk and you cheated on me."

Klaus feigns a wounded expression. "I would never."

"Oh, you so would."

"How do you know?"

"I found the sexting on your phone."

"That's absurd. I don't do sexting."

"Of course you do. Everyone does."

"I don't."

Caroline frowns. He's being serious. "Really?"

"I don't see the point."

She opens her mouth to explain, but changes her mind. Getting into an argument about the benefits of sexting is probably not something she wants to do right now. With Klaus, of all people. "Well. Now you do," she offers instead.

"That's despicably low. If I was going to cheat, I'd at least do it the old-fashioned way."

Caroline snorts. "That's even worse, Klaus."

"At least it's worth it."

"You have an interesting point. But now you're terrible _and_ despicably low and everyone knows."

"I'm sure you were highly entertained, destroying my good image."

"Well, it _was_ a little annoying how much everyone seems to like you in this place. It makes no sense."

"I'm a people's person."

"Oh, I'm sure you are, when you can compel the people. And anyway, that was my brilliant excuse to ask Bonnie to perform magic."

"How so?"

"I wanted to find out who was the tramp."

"The tramp?"

"The woman you were cheating on me with."

There's a moment's pause before Klaus says, "The lady wolf."

Caroline frowns. "Who?"

"Tyler's werewolf friend."

"Hayley" She snorts loudly. "Right."

"What's the matter?"

"Why would you sleep with that... _thing_?"

"Why not?"

"How much time do you have?" And then it hits her. She narrows her eyes at him, studying his face with rapt attention. Klaus looks almost disinterested, not at all phased or abashed, and Caroline realizes that he isn't merely suggesting a detail to enrich her tale; he is, in fact, making a confession. "Are you telling me what I think you're telling me just now? Did you sleep with Hayley? Actually real-world sleep with her?"

"I can't tell whether you'd prefer me to lie to you or not."

"Oh my God!" Caroline screeches, her voice coming out at least an octave too high. "Are you for real now?!"

Klaus merely shrugs.

"Why?!"

"I just answered that. Why not?"

"Because! She is..." Caroline's voice trails off, slack-jawed as realization dawns on her. "A backstabbing _bitch_ ," she speaks slowly. " _That's_ why she betrayed Tyler and the hybrids. She was sleeping with _you_!"

"Now, you're making assumptions," Klaus says, not even having the decency to look offended. "As much as I'd like to flatter myself that my blue eyes and irresistible charm were the reason behind the little wolf's betrayal, that is not the case. Hayley had her own ulterior motives and stroke a deal with Katerina, the specifics of which I am not familiar with. Personally, I like to think that she was a rather smart girl who realized the error of her ways sooner rather than later. She had no desire to become slaughtered wolf number 13. Her bout of honesty was well rewarded."

"By getting in your pants. What a trophy!"

Klaus grins unrepentantly. "We did share a rather enjoyable time together. But only after the hybrids. Business before pleasure."

"Oh, because that makes it _so_ much better."

"I don't see why I'd have to make anything better, love. I'm perfectly satisfied with the facts just as they are."

Caroline feels a verbose attack of anger that she cannot explain starting to form. The idea of Klaus and Hayley being _a thing_ disturbs her beyond any reason.

" _Hayley_." If her scoffing intonation doesn't make it clear that she is judging the hell out of Klaus, then her disappointed head shake does.

"I see no reason for you to be so prickly about it."

"I'm not _prickly_ ," she protests, her forehead crinkling in indignation. "I'm astounded. Actually, no. I'm _disgusted_."

"You're overreacting."

"That slut snapped my neck!"

"That seems to me like too little a fault. Getting your neck twisted is almost a compliment with you, Mystic Falls lot. Happens every five minutes."

"Don't you realize how she played you?" she asks, her blood is positively starting to boil in her veins now. "She seduced Tyler to gain his trust while they were up on the mountains. Then she oh-so-selflessly offered to come back with him and help with the rest of the hybrids, like she was doing it all out of the infinite goodness of her heart, wanted nothing at all for risking her ordinary werewolf neck by challenging you. Then she gained _their_ trust, pretended to be on their side while she helped all of them through breaking the sire bond, filling Tyler's head with a bunch of stupid ideas, just to sell them all out to you _knowing_ that you'd shred them all to pieces. Even Tyler, if you'd managed to get your hands on him. And just to top it all off she seals the deal by _sleeping_ with you!"

Something in Klaus' so far almost laid-back and casual attitude shifts just then. Caroline sees it as it crosses his face, like a shadow, his half-smile twisting into a scowl. He looks at her with a cold shield in his eyes.

"I am perfectly familiar with all the details of that story, love, much more than you think, but thank you for repeating it to me. Whatever makes you feel better."

"My boyfriend lost his mother and had to flee for his life because of that girl. So no, emphasizing how much of a horny _idiot_ you were does not make me feel better. But you're welcome."

"Are you sure you want to pull on that thread, Caroline?" he asks, a quiet fury simmering beneath his calm. "Do you really want to discuss how those hybrids and your dear boyfriend, all of whom I graciously freed from the werewolf curse, were conspiring to have me buried in concrete and agonizing for all eternity? Or perhaps you'd like to clarify what exactly was your part on the scheme?"

Caroline swallows down hard, cringing at the accusation because it is, at least in part, true. "I tried to talk them out of it."

"Why do I find that so hard to believe? Oh, yes. Because you were being lovely, for a change, and it turned out to be yet another ploy to keep me distracted while Tyler plotted my demise. If you were so reticent, as you said, why not tell me? As did Hayley."

"So you could kill Tyler? So I'd be responsible for the death of someone I love and everyone he was trying to help?"

"You seemed to have no qualms at all being responsible for my death. So I don't see why you should have any qualm with the nature of my involvement with Hayley."

"That was not what I was doing!" Caroline barks, springing up to her feet in a surge of righteous indignation, colored by a generous dose of embarrassment. Klaus isn't wrong - she did know about the whole thing and, in the end, she gave up fighting Tyler. It was useless. Even if he decided to think it over, the hybrids - and _Hayley_ \- would never let him. "Stop blaming me! It was your girlfriend who put it in your hybrids' heads that they were strong enough to take you down and they turned on you because you treated them like slaves!"

" _I freed them_!" In a fraction of a second, Klaus is up as well, standing inches away from her, so close that she can feel the warmth of his angry breath when he screams. Caroline winces inwardly, her body going stiff, but she refuses to budge, standing her ground with her hands on her hips and her chin jutted forward in sheer defiance. "I made them the most powerful creatures on earth, freed them from the pain of transformation, of becoming irrational beasts every full moon! They owed me _everything_!"

Caroline can hear a tiny little voice on the back of her head, the more sensible side of her brain, reminding her that openly challenging Klaus like this is hardly a smart idea. So maybe he can't bite her, but he can still hurt her pretty bad. Past events should be enough indication that he isn't entirely beyond driving a piece of wood through her stomach, if he feels offended and riled up enough. Shut up and back off. Look away from the storm in his eyes, which, she realizes now, can be just as frightening in their natural color as they'd be in the golden hue of his hybrid form. She should not engage in an argument that she can't win.

And the reason she can't win is because it is a stupid, stupid argument that they shouldn't even be having right now. There's no bygones be bygones where assassinations and forced exiles are concerned, but a lot has happened since then and they actually have more pressing issues on their hands at the moment to be yelling so ferociously at each other about something that took place months before.

In some subconscious level, Caroline realizes that, for once, she can't actually blame Klaus. He was _fine_ , good mood and everything. She's the one who picked a fight here. Over _Hayley_. That backstabbing werewolf slut that has a way of going after all the guys that Caroline... Well. Has either a relationship or a passive-aggressive nondescript involvement of some sort with.

Caroline makes a pause, noticing for the first time how vague her motives for starting this very heated, very angry discussion are. But it's too late to turn back now, and anyway, she _is_ pretty angry, Hayley _is_ a bitch and Klaus _is_ an idiot. She ploughs on, aware that this whole thing sounds more like a tantrum than an actual problem, but feeling very validated nonetheless.

"You think it's ok to use people like they're nothing," she continues, the words flowing naturally to her lips like they had been there all along, just waiting to come out. "Turn them into brainless minions, carrying out your every whim, in exchange for what? Not turning once every full moon? Do you think that's worth losing their entire lives over?"

"They were trying to kill me," Klaus snarls from behind grit teeth.

"And for good reason! You think just because you have a hole carved out in your chest in the place where your heart should be, just because you're incapable of feeling anything stronger than your own sense of entitlement, that everyone is going to be exactly like you. Being strong does not justify everything! You shed them of their humanity! No wonder they hated you. You're a hateful man, Klaus," she says, and then, just to drive in the blade a bit more, "That's why everyone leaves you in the end, even your own family, your own sired hybrids. You and Hayley are perfect for each other, after all."

Caroline spit out the words like they were coated in something vile, but as soon as it passes her lips, she wants to snatch them back. That was... Mean. And unnecessary. And also very much true, which is the whole problem, really. The blow landed. A shadow crosses Klaus' face; anger, she thinks. Her resilience falters as she stays very still, staring into his eyes, trying to remember how to breathe.

Under normal circumstances, she wouldn't feel too terrible about hurting his feelings. It's not like he hasn't done way worse. But for someone who likes to believe herself to be so much better than him, that wasn't exactly model behavior. She just felt so inexplicably riled up, this sense of being wronged escalating inside of her until she couldn't hold back anymore, and Caroline went straight for the jugular.

She doesn't know why her opinions seem to matter so much to Klaus, why the things she says appear to hit him so hard, but they do, and she used that in the worst possible way. So much so that, suddenly, she's not the one holding the moral high ground anymore.

"We're leaving," Klaus announces, his voice low and grave in a way that makes it clear he's not open for debate. He turns on his heels and leaves the room, slamming the door shut behind him.

Caroline shuts her eyes and lets out a shuddering breath.

And to think the day started so well...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You might notice I'm totally making some stuff up here, like the part about vampires not being able to taste food properly and the part about Caroline's father. Someone mentioned to me in a comment last time around that the thing with the food is actually true and does get mentioned on the show, but I honestly don't recall. If that's the case, all good. If not, I just made it up and that's it. 
> 
> I also feel like I need to clarify that I don't HATE Hayley and this chapter is not supposed to be a Hayley-bashing chapter. Caroline has all the reasons in the world to dislike her and judge everything she's done, but the whole part about calling her a slut and a backstabbing bitch comes from the fact that she is JEALOUS and therefore seeing things in a not completely rational way. I know it sucks to explain the story, but it's always possible I'm just not that good a writer and things will get misinterpreted (it happened last I posted this chapter). I hate stories that bash characters for no reason, especially female character for committing the atrocious crime of being single and sexually active. *Insert eyeroll.*
> 
> However, and since I'm mentioning this bit here, I have always found it weird how they simply erased Hayley's GUILT from The Originals. She suddenly becomes a paragon of correctness and dedication to the werewolf cause, even crying in early season two after murdering the clearly evil Guerrera werewolves who plotted against her and ended up getting her killed and her daughter almost sacrificed because "they are my people". I was like "Hmmmm... Interesting". It's just NEVER addressed on the show how she helped Klaus kill 12 werewolves in exchange of a BIT OF INFORMATION, betrayed all of them plus Tyler, had Tyler's mother murdered and then slept with the guy who did it all. I mean... When Tyler shows up in TO he's portrayed as a bitter guy who wants to hurt a poor pregnant lady (which - well, he DID try to hurt an unborn baby) who did absolutely nothing against him, but he kind of had EVERY REASON IN THE WORLD to want her head on a pike and it's just... Never mentioned? Klaus' explanation for Tyler's revenge is that 'he went for his girl'.
> 
> Anyway. So there's that. Nothing to do with the story, just general THOUGHTS. Thanks for coming to my The Originals TED talk, folks! Let me know if you’re still enjoying the story, I’m all here for your comments.


	7. Lonely Town

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Grab a coffee, make yourself comfortable, because this is the longest chapter so far.
> 
> The core of the chapter is pretty much the same, but I did A LOT of rewriting. I deleted huge chunks of the story and started over, especially the first part. But, for those of you who have already read this before, the point remains pretty much the same.
> 
> I kind of wish I could work on this part more, but I'll honestly lose my mind if I have to read this chapter again. 
> 
> As always, I apologize for any mistakes you might find. English is not my first language and the story has not been beta'ed.
> 
> Thank you very much to everyone who's been reading this. :) Your comments and messages are very much appreciated and at this point the support is pretty much what keeps me going here. I'm always eager to know your thoughts, so drop me a note! :)

_You loved me and I froze in time_   
_Hungry for that flesh of mine_   
_But I can't compete with the she wolf who has brought me to my knees_   
_What do you see in those yellow eyes?_

* * *

 

 

After long hours of quiet and furious contemplation about the scene at the motel, Caroline comes to two conclusions.

The first is that everything she said to Klaus was absolutely true and she stands by it all. She wasn't being _mean_ , she was being honest. Klaus has done a lot of bad things to a lot of good people; if it hurts his feelings to have the truth rubbed in his face, then maybe he should think twice before raising hell everywhere he goes.

The second is that, honest though she might have been, she said all those things for all the wrong reasons.

It's not that Klaus doesn't deserve it. It's just that he didn't deserve it at that moment in particular. Especially because the reason why she reacted with such overbearing passive-aggressiveness at the revelation he slept with Hayley was because she was jealous.

Jealous. Of Klaus.

Now, _that_ is a plot twist.

It's possible she wasn't jealous of him per se, not exactly. Maybe it's the situation as a whole what gets her riled up. Hayley is personally responsible for _a lot_ of shit. She may have helped Tyler break the sire bond, but she's also the one who convinced him he should lead an uprising against Klaus. Simply freeing the other hybrids wouldn't be enough; they had to take Klaus down. She orchestrated all that _just_ so she could get Klaus furious out of his mind when she snitched on them.

Caroline is still not sure what exactly she got out of her side deal with Professor Creepy, but whatever it was, it wasn't worth the lives of 12 people, even if they were hybrids.

Well, thirteen. Carol Lockwood also counts. And she only died because Klaus couldn’t find Tyler fast enough.

And to think that after all that, Klaus would still screw that backstabbing she-wolf...

Caroline got freaking impaled and bitten for a lot less.

At the end of the day, the big bad wolf is just another dude who can't keep it in his pants when a pretty girl with ulterior motives starts batting her eyelashes at him. It's pathetic. You'd think that a guy his age would be smarter about people who are _clearly_ manipulating him. But no. A thousand years of age and Klaus fell for the exact same siren song Tyler did.

 _Men_.

Just trying to imagine how it must've happened gets Caroline's blood boiling all over again. How Hayley must've run to Klaus after snapping her neck and told him a sad story about the hybrids plotting to take him down. Did she mention the part where she misled them the whole time, making them believe that their plan was even possible? Or how she made Tyler turn on his own girlfriend when she tried to alert him of all the thousand ways that stupid idea could go wrong?

Caroline bets she didn't.

Rationally, Caroline knows her righteous indignation doesn't entirely check out. Officially, she hates Klaus. They went on one not-date because she had no choice and, as far as everyone knows, it was _painful_ \- no one heard the version where he turned out to be the least awful part of her day. She accepted to go to his mother's ball because a, she was the reigning Miss Mystic Falls, so it was kind of her job; b, she's a sucker for fancy parties, sue her; and c, Elena was about to get ambushed by the Original family and she was the only one, aside from Damon and Stefan, who got an invitation. She only wore the dress he sent her because it was all very last minute and she didn't have anything appropriate in her closet - besides, she doesn't see why such a beautiful piece of clothing should go to waste just because Klaus fails at basic human decency. And the only reason she wore the bracelet he gave her on her birthday was because it happened to go well with the dress, _not_ because she liked it. She didn't. Because she doesn't like Klaus. Or anything he does. Ever. That's it. That's all there is and all there ever was between them. He courted her, she said no, several times, end of story.

So why should Caroline care about Hayley? She's a conniving little rat. They deserve each other. It _makes sense_ that Klaus would go for someone as devious as him. It shouldn't matter if they sleep together or not. That's not even the worst thing they've done together.

But logic doesn't seem to be reaching her good senses. For some mysterious reason, it _does_ bother her. She's got anger and jealousy permeating every inch of her right now, and she hates it almost as much as she hates the thought of Klaus and that wolf bitch hooking up.

It's insane. Caroline is insane.

There's an endless list of reasons to snap at Klaus at her disposal. From murdering aunt Jenna; to forcing Stefan to turn off his emotions and go into ripper mode; to turning her boyfriend into a brainless minion and then forcing him to attack her; to biting her himself and leaving her agonizing for hours. If she dares to go back in time, she can even blame him for things he didn't do directly to her. Like terrorizing Katherine into becoming a vampire to escape certain death and, 500 years later, indirectly causing the death of a 17 year-old girl by asphyxiation - although Caroline's not entirely sure she regrets that part.

The point is - the list is _infinite_. It goes and on and on on. But Caroline had to go ballistic at the _one_ thing that doesn't actually make sense.

_God._

It's this place messing with her head, Caroline tells herself. The reverse-transition, going from vampire to human, is affecting her head and overwhelming her emotions in the worst possible way. Things aren't getting heightened, they're getting _tangled_ and _confusing_. That's one plausible, rational explanation to her woes. Too bad none of it is reaching the seat of reason in the left side of her brain, currently fixated on how she wishes she could snap Hayley's skanky neck and it wouldn't even merit a single moment of introspection from her.

The hours that followed their heated interaction at the motel were made of uninterrupted frosty silences, punctuated by a few angry glares (from her) and lots of heavy rain. It hindered them considerably, even though Klaus was clearly not big on slowing down. He still hasn't faced the fact that he is _mortal_ in this reality. Mother nature eventually forced him to accept defeat by making the rain get so bad the wiper blades became merely decorative.

But the sound of raging water falling was actually music to Caroline's ears. It allowed her to focus on something other than the evident animosity radiating off of Klaus. Like her own screaming thoughts.

Caroline's control-freak personality does not make room for things she cannot categorize and process in an orderly fashion. She doesn't like chaos, doesn't like things that cause her to second-guess herself or question her own deep-rooted beliefs. That's exactly what Klaus is doing to her. And if she is to be completely honest, it's not even the first time.

She's snapped at Klaus before for something surprisingly unwarranted, the day they went together into the woods to search for Bonnie, when she ended up killing the 12 witches. They had been all flirty just minutes before. If Stefan hadn't walked in on them, she honestly doesn't know what would've happened. They were having a _moment_. She could've chosen to go with Team Stefan when they split up the groups, but she went with Klaus - under the very good pretense of keeping an eye on him so he wouldn't end up being alone with Bonnie. But the second it was just the two of them in the woods, Caroline panicked.

She started whining and babbling non stop when she could've just shut up and focused on what they had to do. If she thinks hard enough, she can find any number of plausible excuses for her behavior; it's never hard to find a reason to be mad at Klaus. But the truth is his whole talk about the _allure of darkness_ resonated with her and she couldn't shake this feeling that she might do something she'd definitely, definitely regret just to test a theory. That made her not only nervous, but incredibly frustrated with herself. Except instead of sulking inwardly she decided to project all of her discomfort onto Klaus, who had been acting rather professionally thus far.

Her unasked for input hurt him then, too, just as it did today. Only she guesses the particular choice of theme this time was like rubbing salt on some very old open wounds.

Klaus offers an infinite array of misbehaviors, wrongdoings, lies and betrayals to wield as a weapon of righteousness against him. But Caroline chose to mention his family. How desperate to leave him behind they are. How he can only keep them around when they're desiccating in boxes. It's his greatest weakness, maybe his _only_ weakness. Caroline understands better than anyone how complicated families can be; hers was a pretty normal one until her father flipped and decided she was the worst thing to ever walk this earth. Now imagine that kind of resentment times a thousand. Maybe going for that wasn't her brightest moment.

She considered apologizing for two seconds before she realized that, in fact, she owes him no apologies. It's not like Klaus has ever said I'm sorry after any of his despicable acts of selfishness or violence. So maybe her rant wasn't justified in that moment. But it was definitely not unfair.

Hayley was just as responsible for his hybridgate as everyone else, and somehow she ended up as the only one with a pardon. A rant is the least Klaus deserved for that.

And none of it matters anyway. It's just her messed up mind playing tricks on her and it'll all be over as soon as they're back in Mystic Falls. Everything will be right with the world again and she'll go back to loathing him as much as ever; this whole bonkers experience will be no more than a very bad dream she'll never want to think about again.

It just needs to be over _soon_ , before she ends up losing it for good.

She's almost dozing off when there's a hard bump and the car comes to a screeching halt. Caroline gasps loudly.

Instincts kicking in, she immediately starts scanning the area, her eyes electric as she searches for the source of the collision. Her very human senses are dreadful, but there's nothing that jumps the eye outside. The road is completely deserted, theirs is the only car as far as she can see.

She gives Klaus a once-over. He seems fine, if a little jumpy.

"What did we hit?" she asks.

Klaus releases his seatbelt and pushes the door open. "Stay in the car."

Naturally, Caroline doesn't listen.

Klaus crouchs down behind the car, next to a wet ball of fur. It's a dog, a _huge_ one, lying on its side and whimpering very low.

She doesn't know how far they are from the closest town, but she can't even see a single farmhouse in the vicinity, so either this dog decided to go on an adventure or it was abandoned by some heartless jerk on the side of the road. Now it's agonizing, breathing hard, a pool a blood starting to form under its head. Round dark eyes are moving around in despair, confused, oblivious to the fact that it is dying.

"Oh God," Caroline murmurs. "Poor thing."

"I thought I told you to wait in the car," Klaus says, impatience biting at his tone. He reaches out and gently touches the animal's head. It winces a little, but seems to relax as Klaus begins to stroke it, pale fingers disappearing in the black coat.

"What are you gonna do to it?"

"Put it out of its misery." Klaus gives her a warning sideways glance and Caroline understands what he's about to do.

She scrunches her eyes shut and turns her face away. It happens quickly. There's a sound like a crack, followed by a loud, painful cry that lasts for a split-second, and then it's over. When she dares to look again, the animal has gone completely limp.

Klaus puts his arms under the dog's huge body and picks it up, depositing it under a tree beside the road. Caroline doesn't know if Klaus is secretly a dog person or if the proximity between dogs and wolves has made him feel guilty for killing it. It would be a first, considering she's yet to see Klaus feel bad about killing anything, and this includes some of his family members.

When he turns around, though, and their eyes meet, she thinks she finally gets where his remorse is coming from.

The dog was abandoned in the middle of nowhere, left for dead in unknown territory. Who knows how long it had been wandering around, lost, starving, just trying to survive. Not very unlike the two of them right now. But then it got hit and that was it. Gone. No rescue, no one to mourn it, no one to care.

It tugs at something deep inside of Caroline. She can relate too.

A kind of comprehension passes between them, and the words form at the tip of her tongue again. _I'm sorry_ , she wants to say. _I'm sorry I used your family to hurt your feelings. I'm sorry we're trapped in this place. I'm sorry we killed the dog._ But there's no time.

Klaus' stare turns cold and he simply walks past her. "Get back in the car."

Caroline stays rooted to her spot, getting soaked under the rain, unable to look away from the deceased animal. She feels something building up inside of her, growing and rising, pressing against the back of her throat until she can't hold it in any longer.

"I didn't want you to die," she blurts out.

She half-expects Klaus to ignore her, get back in the car and maybe even drive away. But when she turns around, she finds him still there, under the rain, with a flat and speculative look in his eyes.

She takes it as a cue to go on.

"I tried to talk Tyler out of his stupid plan. Many times. I tried to make him understand how dangerous it was. But Hayley -" Caroline bites on her lower lip to keep from cursing. "She always told him the exact opposite. She was the one pushing him forward even when he felt like backing down, making him feel like he didn't have a choice. And he listened to her. They all did. They were wolves - _hybrids_ \- and she helped them break the sire bond, so they were all very grateful. They never cared about what a vampire had to say. Even Tyler was against me.

"What they wanted was their freedom, and they knew that breaking the sire bond wasn't going to be it. You would never forgive them, and never stop hunting them, especially since you can't sire new ones. So the only way to be truly free was to get rid of you."

"They weren't wrong," Klaus remarks matter-of-factly. "Just incredibly short-sighted to think they could take on me."

"They weren't stupid, they were desperate. And Hayley used that to manipulate them. She made them hopeful just to crush them afterwards."

A flicker passes across Klaus' face, something dark that she cannot read.

"I should've wanted you dead, too. You're the reason Tyler and I could never really be together. The moment you came into his life, everything fell apart. You kept him around as a pet even after he broke the sire bond, showing up at his house uninvited, keeping him surrounded by your lap dogs -"

"I was trying to protect my first hybrid," he seethes through grit teeth.

"He wasn't _yours_. None of them were. They were people, Klaus, not properties. That's the thing you never understood. They had lives and needs and things they wanted for themselves, but they could never have a life of their own because you wouldn't let them. And you were mad at Tyler for daring to prove that it was possible to break free. You wanted to show him he owed you his life. You're territorial. And vindictive. You couldn't just let him go unpunished, so you kept him tied up in other ways. And that ruined our relationship. It wasn't easy to begin with, but you made it impossible. And yet... I didn't want you to die."

Words tumble out of Caroline's mouth, her voice sort of scratched and tight, squeezing through emotion-tensed muscles.

"Not that I have to explain myself to you, because I don't, but I wasn't there to distract you that day. No one asked me to do that. All I was supposed to do was let Stefan know when you showed up so he could sneak into your house and grab the sword. That was it. I kept an eye on you because I wanted to. Because I thought maybe I could do something. Intervene, somehow. Make sure everyone walked out alive."

"If you're looking for absolution, I suggest you take your guilty confessions to a priest. I don't have time for this nonsense. Get back in the car."

The bitterness in Klaus' voice strikes her raw.

"I'm trying to apologize here," she says, firmly, giving him no option but to listen. Klaus bites back a growl, and before he can do anything else, Caroline adds, "I'm trying to explain something that I'm not even sure you deserve to hear, but for some reason I want to say it. I acted badly earlier, and it's kind of a raw spot for me, in case you haven't noticed. But I'm sorry. I'm sorry, ok? For what I said about your family. I didn't mean it."

"Oh, I beg to differ. I think you meant every word."

"You once said you appreciate my honesty, and that's what I'm doing here. I'm being honest."

"Your honesty is neither needed nor desired, so you can do us both a favor and keep it to yourself," he says, voice drenched in acid.

"Can you just stop being a sulky child for one second and _listen_?" Caroline is growing incredibly frustrated, letting his bullheadedness get to her. If they are to survive for who knows how long in this place, they need to find a way to work around their differences, which are _many_.

She closes her eyes for a brief moment, regaining her composure, before starting again. "Klaus, I don't know how much longer we'll have to stay in this place, but for as long as we're here, you're all I have. As far as we know, we might never get out. I could die before we find a way to escape. And if I am to die here, this is not how I wanna go. Saying things I don't mean to deflect from how I truly feel. This isn't me, not anymore. So whether you like it or not, here's honesty.

"I wanted to hurt you because of Hayley. I don't like her. She ruined a lot of lives for her own selfish reasons and she's the only one who didn't have to pay for it. She got a free pass out of Mystic Falls like she didn't orchestrate the deaths of 12 people she pretended to be friends with, destroyed Tyler's life, whom she claimed to like, and then toyed you around to get it all done. And instead of being mad at her and ripping her heart out like you would do to anyone else, you _slept_ with her."

Caroline's tone escalated to a near shout. She doesn't want to get back to the whole Hayley argument. It does not look good for her, how absolutely enraged that girl makes her feel. Being jealous of Tyler is ok. Being angry about the mess she caused, sure. But jealous of Klaus? Nope. Just... Nope.

"But even though I hate her..." Caroline continues. "I was glad she did what I didn't have the courage to do. She saved your life. Even though she only did that because she needed you to kill those hybrids, I hope you realize that. I was relieved you weren't dead, or gone, or - whatever it is that they were gonna do to you. I knew I should be glad that someone had finally fought back against you and won, but I wasn't. I had to spend that whole day recounting in my head all the terrible things that you've done."

Klaus's jaw clenches, his gaze narrows. A vein bulges against his throat. Caroline thinks she might have sparked a whole new level of rage here.

"I'm sure it was no hardship at all. You always seem to have a list on the tip of your tongue."

"Yeah, I do have a list. Because in spite of everything, I still find myself constantly in need of reminding," she retorts, real heat in her voice now. "I try so hard to be a good person, Klaus. _So hard_. Which I'm sure you know it's not easy for someone who rejoices in preying on other people. Every time I kill someone, it's like a part of my soul dies with them. I'm a little less human, a little closer to the monster my father despised. And I'm afraid that one day, if I live long enough, there'll be nothing left. No humanity. No compassion. No _feeling_. That I'll become... You.

"And I don't want to be like that. I don't want to wake up one day and realize that I don't care anymore. So I try to be sound, to not let my nature define who I am. And I'm actually good at it. I _rock_ at being a vampire. But then when I'm near you..." Caroline stops, looks away from him, swallows around the lump in her throat. "My moral compass just... Explodes. I don't know right from wrong anymore."

Klaus' eyes flash with anger. "Well, I appreciate your input, love. I'll make sure to be on my very worst at all times just to avoid clouding your judgement in the future and to sooth your self-loathing for not finding me absolutely despicable. How about that?" Klaus' voice is low and grave, drenched in irony, as he continues, "You seem to have a lot of opinions on me, but what does all that say about you, Caroline?" He starts walking slowly towards her, cutting the distance between them. Caroline finds herself rooted to her spot, unable to look away from the wildness in his gaze. "You don't think I hear your pulse racing when I come close to you? That little sparkle of excitement in your eyes when you catch me looking at you and you know what I'm thinking? What does it mean, Caroline, if I'm so terrible, as you say, and yet you still find yourself drawn to my dark, evil ways?"

Caroline sticks her chin up defiantly, like her defiance at this point could change anything. "Nobody is attracted to your dark side, Klaus. You got it all wrong. It's what lies beneath it. What you try so hard to quench. There is good in you, but you are so afraid of it, you would rather everyone hate you, cower at the mention of your name. But fear, last time I checked, was still a human emotion."

"You seem to forget who you're talking to," he says, blue-grey eyes glinting dangerously. He's every bit the immortal hybrid, even if he doesn't have the deadly bite to go with it. "Just because I made a few concessions on your behalf, Caroline, it does not mean I'm human. There's nothing _human_ about me. I let you have your way because you amuse me. But do not fool yourself into thinking that I would not revoke your privileges the second you become a nuisance."

"That's how things are with you, isn't it? You appreciate my honesty just to a point. As soon as it makes you uncomfortable you dismiss it with a threat."

"Oh, I do appreciate your honesty, love. And you were right before. I _am_ a hateful man, with an empty hole carved out in my chest." Each word comes out mangled by hurt and anger, and it hits Caroline like a blow. He comes even closer to her, pinning her under his scorching gaze. "You mistake me for a Salvatore. I'm not a sad little broken thing. And what isn't broken cannot be fixed. Moreover, I don't want to be. I can play the villain part superbly because I _like_ it." Klaus' lips twist into a smile that is almost a grimace, completely devoid of joy or amusement. It's a nasty, thorny thing.

She knows him enough to understand how Klaus' response mechanism works. His reaction to pain, be it physical or of other deeper, more complex variation, is to lash out. When he's hurt, he wants to hurt more. To prove himself above everything and everyone. It's exactly what he's doing right now. Stomping all over Caroline's fractured apology because he can't stand to feel vulnerable, found out, can't stand to hear that maybe, just _maybe_ , he deserves some of the bad things that happen to him.

Caroline knows what he is doing. And it’s working.

His words hurt, badly, but she manages to hide the sting with only a slight tightening of her voice.

"Is that all you want? The power. The fear. That empty, meaningless existence. Don't you ever get lonely, having to strip people of their free will to make them stay? To make them not turn on you? I can't believe that you never _wonder_ what things would be like if you had more than all that bitterness and hatred in your life. A thousand years to live and that's it?"

"What I want," he starts, his voice ice-cold. "Is for you to stop wasting my time and get back in the car. If you don't, I will leave you behind and you can pour your sad little human heart out to that dead dog. It'll certainly care more than I do."

Klaus storms back to the car, slamming the door after him. Caroline looks around the still deserted road, suddenly very much aware of how utterly and agonizingly alone she is. The knowledge that none of it is real doesn't sooth her at all; the rain on her skin feels real, the smell of wet grass feels real, and so does the pain in her heart. Too real.

It's hard to tell what's worse: what he said or the realization that Klaus gets to her a lot more than she ever thought he could.

Caroline takes a shuddery breath, and sets her face to determination. She feels nauseated, weepy, but she isn't going to break down. She refuses to. Klaus might bite her, _revoke her privileges_ , as he said, and kill her. But he will never have the satisfaction of breaking her.

She marches back to the car and climbs into the passenger seat. That was a moment of complete insanity on her part, thinking that there was any way she could ever reach out to him and connect with someone as warped as Klaus. He just did her a favor, reminding her of the royal, evil _asshole_ he truly is.

Well, screw him. They don't have to be friends. They don't even have to talk to each other. They just have to get the hell out of this purgatory and back to the world where she doesn't depend on him for absolutely nothing, can just hate his guts and not give a single fuck about it.

Caroline's done. With this place, with being mortal, with Klaus. She's just done.

 

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

 

She barely sets foot in New Orleans and already she has a sinking feeling about this.

All that sense of purpose she had a while back dissipated somewhere between this morning and the dead dog. She didn't think it was possible, but the second leg of their ride to the city was even worse than the first part.

Caroline feels so stupid now. What was she thinking, apologizing to Klaus? Explaining herself, admitting that she didn't want him dead. Hell, she even low-key agreed that she's attracted to something in him - not the darkness, like he claims; but the light.

_What freaking light?_

Klaus is just a bottomless well of misery and perversity. There's no goodness, no redemptive qualities, nothing worth saving. Caroline reached out to him in spite of everything, made herself vulnerable to his cruelty in ways she never had before and his response was to trample all over her good will.

Well, fuck him.

She will not make the same mistake twice. If she didn't absolutely think they had to stick together for the sake of getting out of this place, she wouldn't even have gone back to the car. They'll find Sheila, or they won't. They'll get the goddamn spell they need, or not. Either way, this is where their short-lived and disastrous _partnership_ ends. If Sheila and New Orleans turn out to be a no-deal, they'll bid farewell and go each their own way. Maybe they'll see each other again on the other side. Maybe they won't. Caroline couldn't care less. Not anymore. It's just not worth it.

She is tired, angry out of her mind, and all she wants to do is find somewhere to have a long hot shower and a bed to lie in until all this shit goes away. Instead, all she has is some bad chips from their last stop at a gas station, road dust all over her clothes and a man she can barely tolerate but has to follow around anyway because she doesn't know anything in this goddamn city. There are not many ways her week could go any worse at this point.

When they finally park the car, she jumps out faster than a thunder, desperate to put some much needed distance between them. Hours of breathing the same loaded air with him in the car has dampened her mood beyond repair.

She doesn't even know where she's going, just starts walking, following the endless flow of tourists. For a moment, she is overwhelmed by the sounds and the colors of New Orleans, forgets that she's not there to admire the city, that it’s not even real. When she turns around, she finds Klaus still by the car, leaning against the hood like he's suddenly lost his balance and is straining to stay up.

There's something very wrong with him, something he's not telling her, and Caroline doesn't know whether she should be more worried that he might drop dead any minute now or about what that means in the grand scheme of things for both of them. He is not well and not all the silly effort he's putting into denying it is enough to disguise it anymore. It's obviously getting worse.

When Klaus catches her eyes watching him, he immediately wipes off all the tension from his face, squares his shoulders and starts walking like nothing happened. Caroline rolls her eyes and decides not to press it; staying mad at him is more important than being concerned right now.

"Where are we going?" she asks when she falls in stride with him.

"Some place I know in the French Quarter," he says, simply, and Caroline doesn't ask him to elaborate. It's not like it makes any difference anyway. She doesn't have any better ideas; whatever he says, she'll just have to believe that he knows what he's doing.

Klaus stops when they reach an intersection, staring intently at a building on the opposite street corner. It looks old and wrecked and in desperate need of some renovation, but it was probably beautiful in some very distant past.

The old doors screech high when they cross it, barely hanging on its hinges, revealing a decrepit bar that makes justice to the outside. It's dark and moldy and everything inside seems to be at least 100 years old - and not in a valuable antique sort of way. The air is stuffy and warm, smelling of cigarettes and alcohol and something else Caroline frankly doesn't even want to know. This, she imagines, is the kind of place where dreams go to die.

The saloon is big and she can't really see much on the back, or how far exactly it goes. There aren't that many people, but the ones who are there look exactly like the sort of creepy you'd associate with a place like this. It makes her uncomfortable, feeling unsafe, and she shifts a little on her feet, itching to turn around and leave. Klaus, on the other hand, just looks... Wistful.

"Was this place here in your time?" she asks, more out of curiosity than anything else.

"Yes. But not always as a bar. Or... Not just a bar, anyway."

"What was it?"

Klaus smirks. "A house of ill repute."

Caroline wrinkles her nose. If there was any way for her to like the place less... "Gross," she mumbles, stomping off to the bar, claiming one of the empty stools for herself.

"On the contraire," Klaus continues, taking the spot beside her. "It was extravagant and luxurious. Only the cream of the crop of Louisiana's high society were invited here. Very exclusive. They were quite picky with the clientele."

"Talk it up all you want. Still a whorehouse, you're still disgusting." She taps her hand lightly on the counter to catch the attention of the bartender, who's cleaning glasses on the other end and paying them no mind. "Excuse me! Can I get something to drink, please? Something strong."

The man shoots her a less than friendly look, bothered to be removed from his task, and puts a glass in front of her. "Bourbon good enough for you?"

"Perfect," she says, knocking the whole glass down at once. The guy arches his eyebrows at her, slightly more interested now, and pours some more. "Brilliant. Thank you." Caroline repays him with her classic Miss Mystic smile, lifts her glass up in a toast and drinks again. She can feel Klaus' gaze burning on her.

"You're thirsty," he says, sounding less than amused, lifting his hands for the barman to pour him some bourbon as well.

"No," she counters. "I'm in a mood. Why are we here?"

He sighs. "This place used to be brimming with vampires."

"I thought you said cream of the crop."

"Vampires have ways of making themselves invited, don't they?"

"That explains why they'd allow you in, then."

Klaus looks at her as though he's ready to rebuff her with something just as acid, but decides against it in favor of a dismal smile. He knocks back the rest of his drink and gets up.

And that is when an unreasonable pulse of fear travels through Caroline.

Just ten minutes before she was convinced she'd be ditching Klaus sometime soon and could barely stand to walk beside him; now she's terrified that he's going to leave her here, in this awful bar, surrounded by weird-looking people who may or may not be vampires.

"Where are you going?" she demands, grabbing a hold of his forearm before he can get far.

He must see something in the way she's looking at him, or feel something in how unnecessarily tight her hold is, because his eyes soften and he is genuinely reassuring when he says, "I'm going to circulate and ask around, see if anyone knows where we can find what we're looking for."

"How do you know there aren't any vampires here?"

"No one's looked our way since we walked in. Two foreigners in a nasty bar like this? They'd be tossing coins to decide who'd take us first. Don't worry," he says, putting a hand on top of hers and gently peeling her away. "I'll be close and I won't take long."

Caroline bites back an objection as Klaus walks away. As much as she hates being alone, right now she'd hate it even more to make it pitifully obvious how afraid that he will just drop her here and move on. Maybe the dog has given him ideas.

It's so frustrating to feel so vulnerable, so helpless. Caroline is an overachiever, a go-getter. Sitting back and waiting is not her style. And the fact the person she is forced to depend on is Klaus just makes everything worse.

This week was supposed to be a major one. Tomorrow is prom night. She had an after party to plan, a dress to adjust, some friends to blackmail into showing up. Caroline had been planning her senior prom since basically freshman year. There are folders with references, pinterest moodboards and spreadsheets on her computer to prove it. It was meant to be _great_. Instead of being there, however, she's here exchanging hisses and growls with Klaus in this godforsaken place. Over half a week has gone by already and they're nowhere closer to finding their way out of this mess.

She asks for another shot and gets a judgmental eyebrow cocked at her from the barman. "You get paid to pour alcohol to very sad people all day, every day, so less judging and more filling my glass, ok, buddy?" she snarls.

The guy snorts. "Suit yourself, princess."

"And what has dared to make such a pretty thing so sad?"

Caroline curses her goddamn human senses as a man takes Klaus' place next to her without her even realizing he was approaching.

"Tell me the name of the son of a bitch and I'll kick his ass for you," the man says, waggling his eyebrows in a way he probably thinks is suggestive.

Caroline bites her tongue, considering the odds of Klaus being wrong about the bar's crowd, but nothing about him screams vampire, or any other brand of supernatural for that matter. Then again, as a human, there isn't really much she can infer just from staring very intently.

Right now, however, she'd say she's more short-tempered than she is afraid of getting bitten. This douchebag has not picked a good day to test her patience. So she just turns her attention back to the bar and calmly sips from her drink.

"I'm talking to you, sugar," he prods.

"I noticed. I'm ignoring you."

The man giggles. "Beautiful _and_ feisty. I like that."

Caroline exhales wearily. "Look, I've had a very bad day. Why don't you do me a favor and leave me alone?"

"Not every day a tasty thing like yourself walks into this place, darling. What kind of gentleman would I be if I didn't come give you a warm welcome? Let me buy you a drink."

"I already have a drink."

None too gently, the man sweeps Caroline's glass away from her and turns all the content on the floor.

"There. Now you don't." He winks, putting her empty glass back on the counter and lifting his hand to ask the barman to bring something else.

 _That's it_. Caroline just about had it with assholes for an entire month.

"Listen here, pal," she starts, glowering at the guy like she's trying to set him on fire with her eyes. "I wouldn't have a drink with you if you were the last man on earth. Now take a freaking hint and leave me the hell alone before I decide to stamp your ugly face with the palm of my hand."

The man is taken aback by her sudden display of aggression, probably not expecting such a young woman to be this reactive. But his shock lasts for just a second. His expression morphs into one of sheer rage. He wraps his hand around her wrist, squeezing so hard she winces in pain. "Now, that is not a way for a lady to speak," he hisses. "I was being nice."

Any other day, Caroline would've probably played the silly little girl and apologized for her behavior, blamed it on the booze and having a bad day, batted her eyelashes at him and snuck out through the back door. But a couple of years of not having to deal with that kind of bullshit as a vampire and she's gotten way too used to putting annoying men back in their place. And pissed off Caroline does not bow down to abusive dickheads.

She balls her hand into a tight fist, ready to fly it into the man's nose, when she feels a hand pressing between her shoulders and someone standing very close behind her, but not in a menacing way. Not to her.

"I don't think you heard the lady, mate. You will remove your dirty paw from her right now if you want to keep it," Klaus speaks in an ice cold and sharp tone of voice that Caroline has come to associate with impending violence.

The man looks up at Klaus, assessing the situation, and, probably concluding that he can easily take on a guy who, on a good day, is far from being physically dominant and right now looks very sick, snorts loudly. He slacks his fingers around Caroline's arm, enough for her to shake him off with a violent jerk.

"This preppy loser?" the guy says, nodding towards Klaus. "Really, sugar? I think you can do better."

Klaus' hand smooths down to the small of her back, possessively.

"You have five seconds to disappear from sight before this preppy loser snaps all 27 bones in your hand."

"Nevermind the preppy loser," Caroline cuts in. "Touch me again and I will break your neck faster than you can cry for help."

"You heard the lady," Klaus says. Caroline doesn't need to look to know he's amused. "Now sod off."

The truth is the guy could probably take on both her _and_ Klaus together, considering their less than favorable circumstances. But something about the way they speak, with absolute certainty that they could destroy the guy and a bloodthirsty glint in their eyes, must resonate, because the man visibly deflates. Whether it's Klaus' commanding authority, the simmering fury behind Caroline's words or a combination of both, she doesn't know. But they make quite the team.

The guy raises his palms out in the air in a gesture of surrender, gets up and takes flight. Coward.

Caroline growls in anger and starts rubbing her wrist. This will definitely bruise. "Asshole," she mumbles, almost wishing that he'd called their bluff just so she could have the pleasure of breaking his jaw. She may not have vampire strength, but her vampire temper remains intact.

"Are you ok?" Klaus asks, all solemn as he takes the vacated seat.

"I'm pissed off," she replies drily. "But I'm fine."

"I should crush all his fingers with a hammer just to teach him a lesson." Now there's an interesting idea. Too bad she's still mad at Klaus to join forces with him.

"I don't need you to defend my honor, Klaus. I can take care of myself."

"I know you can, love. I was merely -"

"Did you find anything?" she cuts him off, not the least bit interested in whatever he has to say about wanting to keep her alive in the shared interest of getting the hell out of this place.

Klaus looks like he might have something else to add, but decides not to. He leans over the counter to take an entire bottle of bourbon. He pours some to himself and arches an inquiring eyebrow at Caroline. She gives him a stiffy nod, and he serves her as well.

"There is to be a festival tomorrow. Allegedly it's a part of an ancestral ritual of the French Quarter witches that's been dutifully incorporated to the town's tourist trap calendar. I recall something of the sort form back in my days."

"How do we know we'll even find any real witches there?"

"Witches are attached to their traditions, no matter what. They don't disrespect ancestry, especially not the ones in this town. "

"Did you ask about Bonnie's grandmother?"

"The name Sheila Bennett didn't ring any bells. If she's indeed here, she's keeping a low profile, which tends to be a good sign where real witches are concerned."

"Or a bad one and she's not here at all."

Klaus shrugs. "Or that."

Of course Silas wouldn't make things easy for them. How do you find a specific witch in a city the size of New Orleans, filled with hundreds of fake witches? Hoping to have everything sorted out within hours of arriving was really just very naive wishful thinking on her part. This is gonna take forever.

"At what time is that festival supposed to start?" she asks, resigning herself to the idea of tolerating Klaus for another day.

"Midnight."

Caroline stops, putting her glass down with a thud. "Midnight? Tomorrow?"

"Yes. Why?"

By midnight tomorrow she should be ridding her tired feet of her heels after dancing the shit out of her prom and getting appropriately drunk at the after party at the Lockwood mansion with all her friends to celebrate the fact that not only did she survive through becoming a vampire, facing countless murderous evil-doers and being tortured by her own father, but she also managed to escape Silas' trap with no more than a banged up ego and in time to attend the dance she spent months planning in-between saving the world and becoming collateral damage in other people's conspiracies.

Instead, she'll be stewing in her own misery and trying not to kill Klaus while they wait for some witch parade to start, crossing her fingers that it'll drag Sheila Bennett out of hiding.

Once more, no happy ending for Caroline Forbes. After everything she's been through in the last few years, she _deserved_ to have this one night to forget all the supernatural shenanigans and just _dance_. To feel accomplished, proud of herself and of her journey, of who she's become in spite of everything and everyone trying to break her and make her undone - to just feel _joy_ for a change. But that would be asking too much, wouldn't it? How silly of her, thinking that she'd finally be allowed a tiny bit of reward.

Caroline knocks back the rest of her drink. Suddenly she doesn't feel out of place at all in that wretched bar with its smell of broken dreams.

"What's the matter?" Klaus asks.

"Nothing of your concern."

"You're vexed, Caroline. I want to know why."

"You don't have to pretend to give a shit, Klaus. We're not friends."

Klaus sighs, fills his glass again like he's bracing himself for something. Apparently she's not the only one in desperate need of some liquid oblivion tonight.

"I believe an apology is in order," he says.

Caroline scoffs, bristling with indignation. "You have _got_ to be kidding me. You're insane if you think I'm apologizing to you. _Ever_. I shouldn't have done it in the first place. There's absolutely nothing I could ever say to you that would be even remotely as awful as the things you've done to me and to the people I love. And yet I tried to be the bigger person, was idiot enough to care about your stupid feelings, and you all but spat on my face. You are _never_ getting another apology from me. You didn't deserve it then, you deserve it even less now."

"I meant from me," he says, rather sheepishly, looking down at the glass in his hands. "I realize you were attempting to make amends, and I... Did not react in a suitable manner. I was rancorous. I don't handle criticism very well."

"Oh, you think _that_ was not handling criticism well? _I_ don't handle criticism well, Klaus. You are in a completely different, psychotic category."

"I don't often mind how my actions are perceived by others, Caroline. And there's but a handful who can make me care enough. The more I care, however, the harder it becomes to confront certain truths. That is when I tend to... Lash out. It's instinctive."

"Like biting people? Which I'm sure you would've done today, if you had your fangs."

"Well, I have a historically famous temper." Klaus smiles in a way that he probably thinks is charming, like being utterly incapable of holding himself back when he gets angry is an endearing little quirk, not a deep character flaw that more often than not leads to vampires being doomed to death by his toxic wolf teeth. He notices Caroline's dagger-filled glare, though, and becomes serious again. "But I can assure you that I would've immediately regretted my attitude. Just as I regret the way I behaved towards you this afternoon."

Caroline humphs. She was determined not to give a shit - not about Hayley, not about Klaus or his pathetic excuse for an apology. But the truth is she is angry still. Bitter and resentful and just goddamn _furious_ , which means that, in spite of her better judgement, she still cares. And the fact she can't even get up and leave or tell him to go sit somewhere else, that they don't have to stay close while they wait for the parade, just makes her all the more upset. She's mad at Klaus and afraid of this place and worried that if something happens to him, it means she'll never get out of here.

This entire situation is combining to make her feel like a malfunctioning pressure cooker about to explode. Klaus is the very definition of chaotic and Caroline's afraid it's starting to rub off on her. She almost feels like getting a bucket, some bleach and a duster to start cleaning this filthy bar just to calm her nerves.

When she finally chances a glance at Klaus, she realizes he's visibly agonized. Exhausted. With a good measure of guilt there as well, if she allows for an unbiased assessment. Caroline almost wants to say he deserves it, that he's caused enough pain and disgruntlement in his life - and the past few hours - that he's earned every bit of torment and distress he gets, but finds herself feeling sympathetic again.

It's ridiculous, she knows, but, all of their obvious differences notwithstanding, Caroline can see her own feelings and worries reflected on him. On his posture and the way his shoulders are slumped and the dejected way he's looking at his drink like he's got no idea what to do with himself. He's a mess. Just like she is. Only Caroline has claimed the moral high ground back, and is entitled to her bout of scowling and waspish replies.

Already beating herself up for giving in, Caroline sucks the air in and lets the words flow. "Do you realize how hard that was for me? I apologized to _you_ for being rude and snappish and overreacting. _You_ , who probably invented the concept of blowing things out of proportion a thousand years ago."

Klaus smiles wanly. "As much as I'd love to take credit, that concept already existed before I was born."

"No," Caroline says, pointing an accusatory finger at him. "You don't get to be flippant. I'm _mad_ at you, Klaus. So if you want to apologize, then you're going to listen and you're going to take me seriously." He presses his lips tightly together and nods in acknowledgment, so Caroline ploughs on. "Do you have any idea how awful you were? Cause let me just make that clear for you: you were a complete and utter _asshole_. Did you even hear anything that I said? Or was your head to far up your ass you couldn't even listen?" Klaus arches his eyebrows at her use of foul language and Caroline grimaces. "Oh, bite me. I've had a long day."

"All right. Fair enough. I'm a bit of a tosser when I'm in a mood."

"A _bit_?"

"I have a fragile ego, love. Don't push it."

"If the best you can do is concede that you're a _bit_ of a _tosser_ , then this conversation ends here and we can go back to hating each other quietly."

Klaus knocks back the rest of his bourbon and immediately starts filling his glass again. "Yes, Caroline, to answer your question, I heard your every word." And then, after a small pause, he adds, "Including the part where you said you didn't want me to die. Did you really mean it?"

 _No, I wanted you to be buried in concrete at the bottom of the ocean so that Tyler could be finally free and I would never be forced to serve as bait and entertain your stupid flirtation ever again,_ is what Caroline wants to say. Part of her still wants to draw blood from Klaus. It's no less than he deserves. But even in amidst the grudge she's been harboring since this morning, Caroline can see the hypocrisy of talking about honesty and then lying just to twist the blade in a bit further.

"I betrayed Tyler," she says. "Yes, I played along with his plan, mostly because I couldn't call him out on it, considering he had very solid reasons to want you gone." A muscle in Klaus' jaw twitches, but he stays quiet. "But I knew that if I had a chance to botch Tyler's plan and walk away with it, I would've done it. It's what I was trying to do, when your wolf _friend_ snapped my neck and left me to rot on a disgusting public bathroom floor," she says, unable to keep the bite out of her voice.

In the grand scheme of things, Tyler's floundered plan to get rid of Klaus and the subsequent deaths of all the other hybrids didn't really mean much. It aided Silas, but out of the three massacres it was the one people lamented the least. Truth be told, they got used to having Klaus around and probably preferred him over unknown threats they couldn't bargain with. And, well, they were still majorly a vampire community, so the less hybrids around, the better. The whole thing was a personal endeavor on Tyler's part, and, aside from him and Caroline, no one else lost any sleep over it. It happened, everyone said sorry, and then moved on. They had more important things to worry about. To Caroline, however, that day was a watershed.

Every plan she had for her future was put on hold. No one was as affected as Tyler, of course, but with him banished for life from ever returning to Mystic Falls, Caroline had to rethink her whole life. What was she supposed to do? All she wanted was to graduate high school and go away for college with Tyler. They'd finally be able to escape Klaus' influence and start a life together that had nothing to do with hybrids or original vampires. The end of school year was meant to be the beginning of something for them. And then… Nothing.

Those were really tough days, but Caroline Forbes is the very definition of tenacious. In Mystic Falls, you don't really get a lot of time to sulk or grieve or just generally feel sorry for yourself. There's always something terrible lurking in the shadows and if you slow down, you die. Sometimes that terrible thing happens to be Klaus. Other times, you depend on him to defeat something even worse. That's just how it is. Learn it, accept it and try to stay alive.

Caroline thought she had worked out all her anger and resentment about that day. She'd never forgive Klaus, but she'd found a way to not let that feeling consume her and become an obsession, as it often happens with vampires and their penchant for shocking anger management issues.

Well, apparently, she isn't as over it as she thought she was. And neither is Klaus.

"Tyler would never look me in the eye again if he knew," she continues. "He would hate me. Forever. And I just admitted all that to you."

"I'm sorry," Klaus says and, for a change, he sounds earnest.

"For what, exactly? For what you did to Tyler? Or maybe for everything you did _before_ that? For being a jackass when I tried to apologize? For threatening to leave me behind and telling me to go talk to a dead dog? You have a lot to be sorry for, Klaus. You're gonna have to be more specific."

"I'm sorry that I hurt you," he says, simply. Caroline looks at him studiously for a moment. He seems genuine enough, but his choice of words was not random. It's not exactly what Caroline would call a _heartfelt apology_. Klaus isn't sorry for running Tyler out of town or for murdering his mother or even for lashing out on the road. He's only sorry that she resents him for it. That, she reckons, is probably the closest thing to remorseful Klaus is capable of getting. He's never sorry for the things that he does, all of which he deems sound and necessary and perfectly justifiable; he's only ever sorry that other people don't necessarily agree with him.

Caroline is pretty certain that the fact Klaus bothers apologizing at all puts her as a member of the most exclusive gathering in the history of humankind: the People Klaus Mikaelson Actually Gives A Fuck About Club. She's just not sure how she feels about the distinction.

"You did it on purpose," she says. "You wanted to hurt me. Just like I hurt you before. An eye for an eye, isn't it? It was retribution. We're pretty good at that." She raises her glass in a mock-toast and drinks.

Klaus is quiet for a spell and when he starts talking, his voice sounds scratched and tight. "You know, my brother Elijah spent most of his life working relentlessly towards the salvation of my damned soul. He made it his life's mission. Eventually, even his unshakable faith relented and he grew tired of it. Realized what many had known for centuries: that it was fruitless work. I am beyond redemption. I managed to push away even my own loyal, noble brother, to turn his nearly blind devotion to me and our family into ashes. I am a difficult man to hate," he says, a tiny crooked smile on his lips that would be charming if it wasn't so full of sadness. "My detractors invariably end up either dead or frustrated, because I always win. But loving me is harder still. Elijah used to say that I'm way too attached to my misery, that I nurture it like a living, breathing thing, don't know any other way to live other than in eternal torment. _You sabotage every good deed that comes your way. Every act of kindness and sympathy, everything that is virtuous and pure, just to prove a point, Niklaus. You don't want to be changed, and you refuse to let it happen_ ," he says, imitating Elijah's affected way of speaking. "I always laughed at him, the romantic fool. If I cannot be changed, it is because I am who I am. But... I think the damn fool might have had a point. A severely misguided one, but a point indeed."

"I have long stopped calling your bluff, Klaus," Caroline says. "I believe you're capable of anything. I used to think you'd never hurt me, which is probably why I grew a little too bold with you, and then you drew a lamp through my stomach and bit me."

"Caroline -"

"No, I know. You're impulsive, you regretted doing it, you healed me, I get it. It doesn't change the fact that I was suffering and you still let it go on for hours. And one of these days, if I say the _very_ wrong thing, or touch on the _worst_ raw or anger you just a little bit more, your impulsive reaction might be to drive a piece of wood through my heart or rip my head off. And then there will be no amount of regret to undo it."

Klaus sits up straighter, his mouth drawn into a very tight line, his eyes suddenly alight. "Caroline," he says, in a manner that commands her full attention. In spite of his sudden intensity, his eyes are warm. "I don't deny that I am an angry man and am known to snap rather easily, but I would _never_ do that to you."

There isn't a hint of hesitation in Klaus and, in defiance of everything she knows about it, Caroline believes him.

"There is something... Shakespearean about the king who loses his soul in the quest for winning his throne and defeating his enemies. It's fitting, and I think you quite like the idea, the thought of yourself as a heartless monster that inspires fear in the hearts of those who hear your name. Call me an idiot, but I don't think that's fundamentally true about you. I think it's who you _think_ you should be, and you certainly deserve an A for effort. But it's not really who you are."

Klaus sighs. "What are you now, my therapist?"

"No. But maybe you should think about seeing one."

"I was perhaps a bit harsh earlier, but I wasn't lying when I said that I cannot be fixed, Caroline. Elijah realized that a long time ago. Rebekah knows it too. So you were right. Not even my family can stand by me. And nothing cuts deeper than the truth. Mercurial though I may be, I'm a man of my word. I can't say I appreciate your honesty and then punish you for it."

"It doesn't matter if it's true or not, that's not the point. I have an endless list of good reasons to give you a real piece of my mind, and, trust me, I've wanted to do it for a very long time. But I don't think being mad about Hayley qualifies as a good reason." She speaks the last part so low she isn't sure Klaus hears her at all. That is as much or as loudly as she'll ever elaborate on the matter.

There's a beat of silence during which Klaus seems lost in his own thoughts.

"You said you wanted honesty, and you wanted to know what I want," he starts, taking a generous swig from his drink. "Here's honesty, then. The truth is that I don’t know what I want. All I know is that I am never satisfied. Nothing is ever enough. I have this hunger inside of me... I don't think I'll ever stop craving for more. Power. Influence. Conquests. Ambition is what moves me. But I do know that sitting in my empty throne, surrounded by meaningless sycophants, as you said, isn't everything I seek. I have no idea what is, but it is not that. However, this is what I've come to learn over the centuries." Klaus leans slightly forward and looks at Caroline like he's about to share a secret.

"The truest, deepest desires of my heart are by far the most dangerous. The things I long for more than anything are usually those that I can't have. That can't be compelled or forced or sired. It's things that have to be given, offered voluntarily, that I have to _earn_ instead of conquer. And as you know, patience and moderation are hardly amongst my strongest marks. I hate things that I can't take, that are out of my control. It's frustrating and difficult and demand far more from me than I'm ever willing to give. And in the end all they do is make me weaker. More vulnerable. So in spite of how much my heart aches for these things, of how much I _wonder_ what my life would be like if I were to have them... I keep them away. Because what isn't mine to lose cannot hurt me."

Caroline feels her heart lurch in her chest. There's a fire burning behind Klaus' eyes, too dark under the bar's faint light, and it's like staring at the heart of a flame. Something tells her that this moment, right here, is important. That Klaus is confiding in her with something big, although why he would do that, she has no idea. He was promising to leave her on the side of the road just a few hours ago, and mere minutes before she was pretty sure they were under an unspoken agreement to tolerate each other only in the name of survival.

There's a vulnerability in him she doesn't think she's ever seen before, not even when he thought he was dying with a piece of white oak stuck in his back. It's the most honest he's ever been, the barest and most unadorned truth about himself he's ever shared. Beyond a world of irreconcilable differences, Caroline feels closer to Klaus than ever before, probably closer than she's felt to any other person in a long time, and that's... Strange.

Klaus told her once that they are the same, both of them having fully embraced their natures and reveling in the pleasures of being what they are. Ageless. Fearless. Powerful. The only two vampires in the whole of Mystic Falls who would never consider taking the cure.

And now here they are, trapped in a fantasy world, reduced to mere humans, victimized by their own limitations and how much they depend on their supernatural eccentricities to get by, without the slightest hint of how to break the spell, or even if they ever will. The irony doesn't go by unnoticed; Klaus would hardly ever make the list of people Caroline would want to be trapped in an alternative reality with, but she doubts anyone else would understand the depth of her despair right now as well as he does.

Klaus just _gets_ her. He always has.

"Why are you telling me all this?" she asks.

Klaus smiles faintly. "Quid pro quo. You opened yourself up to me and I took that chance to hurt you, so I felt I should offer you something in return. Besides, there really is a chance we might never make it out of this place. And if so, I feel that being untruthful and unnecessarily mean to you on the account of a wounded ego isn't how I want to go. Not to mention," he pauses, picks up his glass and waves it in the air before drinking. "I think human me is quite the lightweight."

In spite of herself, Caroline can't really help the laughter that escapes her lips. Somewhere along that conversation, she's not exactly sure where, the dark clouds started to dissipate. It's not completely gone yet, she can still taste the acrimony on the back of her throat and sense all the little spikes surrounding them, but her chest feels lighter, like a weight was suddenly lifted. Then again, that's how most things with Klaus are. You kind of hate him even when you don't, and kind of like him even when you hate him. _It's complicated_ has never been more appropriate.

He still looks too tired and as though he's been down in the dumps for a while, but he's smiling, and for once it meets his eyes.

Caroline swallows back the laughter and focuses on the glass in front of her, eyebrows furrowed in concentration, just because she doesn't think she should be so easily swayed like this.

"Tale as old as time," she says. "Start talking too much, just blame it on the booze."

"I blame you, actually. You make me want to behave. It's sickening."

She snorts. "If this is your idea of behaving, you are seriously delusional."

"Trust me, sweetheart. It doesn't get much better than this with me."

"Oh, I believe you. I just don't think you know what _behaving_ means."

They lapse back into silence and, for once, it's not heavy with implications and dread. It's a welcome change from what her entire day has been like. She's so tired of the giving and taking and rowing all the time, of having to constantly fight for absolutely everything, that she won't mind if they stay locked in this tiny little truce of theirs forever.

And just as she's starting to get used to it, Klaus says, "You haven't told me yet why you were so upset about the parade being at midnight."

Caroline considers him for a spell. "Do you really want to know?"

"I'm asking, aren't I?"

"You can't say it's stupid."

"What makes you think I will?"

"I _know_ you will think it. But you can't say it."

He puts a palm over his heart. "I wouldn't dare."

Caroline knows he's only asking out of a misguided attempt to appease her or apologize, but she surprises herself by telling him the truth. And, to his credit, Klaus listens.

"Tomorrow is prom night. My senior prom night. I had this silly little hope that we'd arrive in New Orleans and everything would magically fall into place and sort itself out and I'd be back home in time to curl my hair and dress up," she says, shaking her head. "I told you you would think it's stupid."

"I don't think it's -"

"But it's _not_ stupid because I worked my ass off for that prom. I was head of three different committees, basically planned the whole thing myself, down to the tiniest detail. I chose the venue, the decor, the DJ, the flowers, the theme - _everything_. None of my friends cared about senior proms anymore. It was like a thing from a different life. But I didn't let them drop out, I made them all promise they'd be there, engaged them as best as I could, because it was supposed to _matter_. It was supposed to be a rite of passage. We've known each other since before we could walk and our senior year was meant to be _epic_. It's the last stop before the rest of our lives, and I get that the rest of our lives is a very loose concept to most of us right now, but it should still mean something. We've lost so much. Loved ones, important moments, memories... This was meant to be a celebration of life. Of togetherness. Despite the whole damn universe conspiring against us, _we made it_. We're alive and we still have each other. It's a small win, but it's a win the middle of a whole lot of loss. And I was the only person who gave a shit about it. And now I won't even be there." She knocks back yet another glass of bourbon. What is that, the fourth? Fifth? Tenth? "I guess they were right, after all. Life sucks and we have nothing to celebrate."

Well. That was something. She takes a deep breath, recovering her air after talking too much, too fast. She is apparently more vexed about missing prom than she thought. With everything else that's happened, she didn't really get a lot of time to bemoan the loss of what was supposed to be a token moment in her short human life before too long has passed and she can't remember what it was like to be 17 and a prom queen. But that's just one point in the middle of several on her list of reasons to hate everything right now.

"I didn't say it was stupid," Klaus offers.

"I know you were thinking it."

"Whatever my personal feelings on high school rituals, Caroline, it clearly matters to you."

"So?"

"So if it matters to you, it's not stupid."

Caroline frowns, looks at him skeptically, but finds nothing but sympathy.

"Well, it doesn't matter anymore. I wonder if anyone will go. And, honestly, I don't know if I want them to. I busted my ass off to make the prom night of my dreams happen to everyone, so it's kind of a dick move it they just ignore that I'm not there and go have fun at the party _I planned_ and that they _didn't care about_." She looks up at Klaus again, expecting judgement. "Go on. I'm a horrible person. Selfish Caroline, doesn't want her friends to move on and enjoy their own prom dance just because she's stuck in Silas Land with an Original."

"I happen to think it's quite debatable who's got the best end on that bargain," Klaus says, a crooked smile Caroline has had many inappropriate thoughts about lighting up his face.

"Stuck in Silas Land with a _drunk_ Original."

"I am quite hammered, indeed," Klaus says, nodding his head vigorously. "However, I still happen to have a modicum of sobriety left in me that I am yet to fill with bourbon, so I will say this. If your friends do go, it'll be the same as attending a funeral. Your absence will be as strong as a presence, hovering over them, reminding them that you're not there."

"That's very poetic, Klaus. But I'm not that important. Life in Mystic Falls is perfectly capable of moving on without me."

"There is no life in Mystic Falls without you, Caroline," Klaus says, softly, looking straight into her eyes. She feels her heart skip a beat, her breath catch.

It's that way of Klaus again, of carrying the words like it's the absolute, unmovable truth, the only truth he believes in; of looking at her like she's the only woman in the universe. Like she _matters_. How can something so wrong feel so right?

"I think," she says, forcing herself to break eye contact and leaning over the counter to steal another bottle of bourbon. "We're gonna need more of this.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Lyrics at the beginning are from _She Wolf_ , by David Guetta featuring Sia.


	8. With a Heart Made Full of Fight

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As the chapter before, this one had several chunks completely rewritten, but nothing substantial has been changed in terms of story. I considered deleting this entire chapter (and the next one also) for a while there, but then I realized it would be a lot more work to sort of rearrange some of the stuff here into future parts, so. I'm still not entirely sure if that was the right decision, though.
> 
> Just two more chapters before I have a completely new update! And chapter 10 was up for maybe two or three days most, so I guess not a lot of people got to read it the first time around. 
> 
> As always, please forgive any mistakes you might find. The story has not been beta'ed. 
> 
> Also, please let me know your thoughts! If you enjoy this chapter or this story, if you still want to read more, drop me a note, send me a message, anything! I love to read your comments and they make me truly happy. :) It's honestly what keeps me motivated to write at this point. Thanks so much to everyone still reading this!

_Sheltered, you better keep the wolf back from the door_  
_He wanders ever closer every night_  
_And how he waits begging for blood_  
_I promised you everything would be fine_  
_Been wondering for days_  
_How you felt me slip your mind_  
_Leave behind your wanton ways I want to learn to love in kind_  
_'Cause you were all I ever longed for_

* * *

 

 

It figures, Caroline thinks, that Klaus should be the belligerent drunk type, which is number two on her list of Worst Types of Drunkards, right after handsy drunks. So it could be worse, she reckons, but it could also be a lot better.

At some point during the night, right around the time when drinking herself to stupor begins to sound like a good idea, Caroline realizes she's actually _having fun_. Granted, her past week was such a monumental disaster that anything that can take her mind off, well, everything is a welcome respite. But that's not even the case. Caroline is just _genuinely_ having fun. And it's _pure gold_.

Had he not had the physical constitution of a fantastic beast and a thousand years to build up his tolerance, Klaus would surely qualify as an incurable alcoholic and probably die of liver failure at a very young age. His human form, however, is a complete lightweight. They're not even past the first bottle and he's already a total goner.

As it turns out, their reverse transformations mean that Caroline, who was human not that long ago _and_ had a bit of a teenage drinking problem (not that she's proud of it), gets the upper hand when it comes to substance abuse in this world.

And drunk Caroline finds that _hilarious_.

She taunts the hell out of him, as one would, and is only sorry that there's not a single soul in the whole of Silas Land who would appreciate the beautiful irony of the fact. Some things are too good to be kept private.

It's all great; Klaus is mildly confused, but insufferably so, the drinks keep coming and Caroline is enjoying herself. After the day she's had, she'll take whatever bit of contentment she can find, even if that's just having a laugh at Klaus' expense.

And then a switch flips and everything goes to hell.

All of a sudden, everyone is looking strange at him, or every guy in the vicinity is checking out Caroline (which, in all truth, some of them are, but that's bars for you), or the bartender, who hadn't exactly been a ray of sunshine from the get-go, is deliberately trying to get them to leave.

Caroline looked away for a second and when she turned back, lighthearted Klaus gave way to the murderous, paranoid beast who lives inside of him. She doesn't even know what triggered it. That's when Klaus' inebriation stops being fun and becomes worrisome. He may be deprived of his hybrid constitution, but the temper and the attitude are absolutely intact.

She puts down her drink, asks for water instead, and sobers up pretty fast in the face of catastrophe when Klaus starts to twist the word _mate_ to make it sound like the most hostile thing anyone could ever say. The threat of near-violence becomes way too real, and Caroline knows she needs to get him out of there before he picks a fight with the wrong person. Or several wrong persons at the same time.

The problem is, human and drunken Klaus is just as overbearing and stubborn as hybrid Klaus.

Normally, Caroline would have zero patience for that kind of territorial macho bullcrap. Her first impulse is to just get up and leave. Life is way too exhausting for her to be babysitting a grown-ass man who's not, technically, her responsibility. But their current circumstance is far from _normal_ , and she's pretty certain that her presence is the only thing standing between Klaus and a beating for the centuries - which, in all honesty, is long overdue.

Maybe real world Caroline would leave Klaus to deal with his own issues, but in Silas Land, she kind of needs him to stay in one piece. For as long as they're here, Klaus' stupid problems are her problems too. So she takes a deep breath to try and not thump him on the head and stays put, crossing her fingers that the Neanderthals he decided to piss off won't choose not to respect the lady in the precinct anymore. And while she's at that, get Klaus to maybe lay off the booze for a while.

They still need to get a place to stay, for God's sake.

To his credit, after only a small dose of defiance, he does. The switch flips again and he goes from aggressive to broody, retiring into the privacy of his silence.

When they finally leave, sometime after midnight, Caroline is barely tipsy anymore and Klaus is only regular drunk. He's also visibly extenuated. She can see it on the crease between his eyes and the downward curve of his lips that their crazy day has taken a toll on him as much as it has on her.

Caroline feels exhausted herself, physically and mentally, and in desperate need of shutting down her brain for a little while, preferably on a real bed, after a hot shower.

"We just passed by a hotel," she informs him, because she assumes that's what they're after when they go wandering off into the night. What else could he possibly want to do at this hour, after the day they had? But then she realizes he's got way too much purpose in his stride, too much fire in his stance, knows exactly where he's going. And as is often the case with Caroline, curiosity trumps tiredness, so she lets him lead the way, fingers crossed that he's had an epiphany while drunk and figured out where to find Sheila, or how to get out of this place, or solve all the mysteries of the universe at once. A lot of wishful thinking on her part, yes, but in her defense, Caroline's had the worst day of the worst week of her life, so having hope and remaining positive goes a long way towards not losing her mind.

She's glad to find they're not going very far, though. Only a couple of street turns and they arrive at their destination. At first, she thinks he meant to take them to a charming little B&B with Mardi Gras themed flags hanging from a cute balcony. But then she notices Klaus has his eyes trained on the building right across the street. Dark, battered and seemingly the soon-to-be a demolition site, totally uninviting for humans looking for a place to crash for the night, unless you're a homeless person or a crackhead.

She has a question and a complaint ready on the tip of her tongue, but when she peers at him more closely, Caroline realizes something is not quite right. Klaus' perpetual scowl has deepened further, his shoulders set and his lips pressed too tight.

It's clear they don't see the same thing when they look at that building. To her, it's only interesting in a haunted-old-crime-scene kind of way, where you'd take creepy tourists for a midnight horror story involving the city's famous folklore. Otherwise, it's completely uninspiring. In the middle of so many better preserved constructions, she wouldn't look twice at that one.

But it is also clear that, as much as everything about this city seems to have an effect on Klaus, this building touches on a very particular raw spot.

Before she can dare to ask, he crosses the street in a few strides and starts forcing the gate.

"Klaus, what are you doing?" she hurries to catch up, looking around to make sure no one's watching them. Last thing she needs right now is to spend her night on a jail bench because Klaus decided to break into private property. "Someone could call the cops on us."

"Let them," he snarls. There's a fragile looking chain and padlock keeping the gates closed, but barely, and he decides that it is enough of an invitation. Grabbing a loose stone that probably fell from the derelict facade, he starts pounding against the padlock.

Caroline squeaks. "Are you out of your freaking mind?! You're going to get us arrested!"

Klaus responds by gritting his teeth and banging even harder. He's breathing raggedly and sweating from the exertion and Caroline's about to start using his weakened condition against him to pull him away by force when the padlock finally breaks.

He drops the stone, undoes the chain and pulls the gate open, giving Caroline a dark look before marching inside.

"Seriously?" she says irritably to Klaus' back. He doesn't hesitate.

She was starting to think they'd made some progress since the beginning of this _journey_ , for lack of a better word. But here he is again, back at square one, doing things because he wants to and not even bothering to tell her why. If he expects her to just go along with it, no questions asked, then he sure as hell should've wished for a different travel companion.

It's so _annoying_.

She takes another quick look around, but his little felony does seem to have attracted unwanted attention. _Yet_. People in this neighborhood must be more than used to drunkards being inappropriate after hours. The B&B across the street still looks very enticing, calling to her, and perhaps she should just let Klaus do whatever the hell he wants to and go get herself a room. He sure as hell hasn't tried very hard to involve her in whatever it is he's doing. But Klaus is still her single ticket out of this place, the only one who seems to make sense out of what's happening, and at the very least she needs to make sure that he won't do anything _more_ stupid than breaking in.

Huffing in irritation, she follows him inside, shutting the gate behind her as she goes.

Like the bar before and as the rusty chains outside would suggest, the best days of the building seem to have stayed in some very distant past. The place is falling apart.

She crossed the arched entry into an open courtyard that was probably very nice once, but has been completely taken by weed. There's junk and trash all over, pieces of broken furniture and parts of the construction that didn't resist the action of time and abandonment. The wooden railings on the stairs and the second floor are beyond salvation, rotten to the core, several parts of it already consumed by age and the inclement weather.

Still, there's something eerily beautiful about the building. It's sad to think the city would let such a monumental piece of architecture right in the heart of its historical neighborhood be reduced to this out of sheer negligence. Then again, this isn't the real city, so maybe there's still hope.

"This place looks haunted," she says, approaching a fountain right in the middle of the courtyard. Dry. "Looks like no one's been here in decades."

"A hundred years, to be more exact," Klaus replies vaguely. He seems mesmerized and distant as he looks around, almost wistful.

Caroline blinks at him. "How well exactly do you know this place?"

"I know every corner of this compound. Every room, every column, every secret passage." he tells her. "I built this place. Me and my family. For two hundred years it was... Home."

Oh.

_Oh._

_Holy shit_.

She could guess that it must've been important to him, but that it was his actual home? That he _built_ it? Shit.

The mansion he got himself in Mystic Falls was neat, but this is... Something else. It's not just enormous and impressive, it's... Historical. Part of what makes the very heart of New Orleans' French Quarter. She can only imagine what it must've looked like a hundred years ago, with its grandeur still intact.

That explains why Klaus looks positively shaken to be back here. She wants to say something - congratulate him on his great taste in architecture or say that she's sorry, even though she has no idea what for exactly - but can't find the words. There's fondness and sorrow and pain, all mixed together, flashing in his eyes. Clearly the time he spent in New Orleans meant a lot more to him than he was letting on. Nothing she can think of feels even remotely appropriate. Granted, Klaus is not in his right mind; slightly more sober Klaus would never allow himself to reveal so much. Still, Caroline can't help but feel like she's intruding something very personal here. Something no one was ever meant to witness.

"I didn't think I'd find this here," he says, talking to himself more than to her. "I figured Mikael would've burned it to the ground, like he did with the Opera House the night I escaped right through his fingers. Didn't think he'd leave stone unturned in his rage. That's what he did everywhere. Destroyed all traces of our existence, killed everyone who could remember us. We were reduced to ghosts, mere whispers, after he was finished. He tore our lives apart that night like never before. Everything we built - everything _I_ built. Our home. The city of my dreams. Turned to ashes."

Klaus stops, staring at the stairs to the second floor as though noticing it there for the first time, and then he runs.

"Klaus, wait." Caroline tries to stop him, but her reflexes are way too impaired by the combination of alcohol and weariness. The whole thing looks like it might come crashing down at the slightest bit of disturbance, and the upstairs flooring is probably not much better. But she's too slow and Klaus is too eager. She holds her breath when he starts jumping two steps at a time, the railing screeching and shaking as he grabs onto it for balance. Somehow, it resists. "Be careful!" she bellows. "This place if falling apart, Klaus. _You're not immortal_!" If he's listening, he gives no sign. She watches as he disappears through one of the doors, on to explore his former house.

Caroline lets out a weary sigh and leans back against the fountain. Part of her wants to go after him, but she thinks he should be given some space, a moment of privacy to mourn for a life that was so crudely taken from him by his own father. All those bits of Klaus' past she's learning in this weird adventure of theirs... It's like a million-pieces puzzle finally starting to come together to paint a picture, shining a different light over Klaus and his complicated family antics. Caroline knew the basics of the story, even heard about the day Mikael killed his favorite horse, but this feels like being so much closer to the real thing. To his real feelings. Real world Klaus has nothing but an all-consuming hatred for his parents, never, ever spoke about New Orleans, not even to Stefan during their bromance time, and that must've been right after Mikael chased them out of here. Clearly, even a hundred years later, it's still painful.

Caroline is pulled out of her thoughts by a loud crash on the second floor. "Klaus!" she calls out, screaming almost. When there's no answer, she decides it's time to cut his private time short.

She hesitates for just a second before flying up the stairs and going through the same doors she saw Klaus disappear into moments ago.

Things look no better on the inside. It's all bare and destroyed and mostly dark, only the moon light coming in through holes on the roof or broken windows, no more than a few useless pieces of old furniture forgotten here and there.

"Klaus," she calls again. "Answer me, damn it!" He was too drunk and this place is too rotten, and of course her mind conjures up a myriad of tragedies that could be lurking around every corner in this decrepit compound. He could be dead now, with a splinter the size of a tree stuck in his chest, or with his neck broken after falling through a hole on the floor. And then what _the hell_ is she supposed to do if Klaus ends up dead?

Caroline goes up another small set of stairs and then through double doors where she sees some light coming in from the street.

She finds Klaus lying on his back on the floor, a tiny wooden table broken next to him. He blinks slowly at her.

"What are you doing there?" she asks, a tiny inch of irritation seeping through her voice.

"I suspect I'm slightly drunker than I thought."

Caroline sighs, crossing her arms over her chest and shaking her head. "Are you just gonna stay on that filthy floor?"

"I painted that," he speaks absently, and when Caroline follows his eyes, she realizes he means the ceiling. Several parts of it have collapsed but, on the parts that have resisted, there are faint signs of an old painting. Leaves and branches, bits of a tree trunk, beautifully detailed and intricate. "This was my art studio," he continues. "The light here was perfect." There's a pause. "This is the only place my siblings and I ever dares to call home. I think... I think I found a kind of happiness here. _We_ found it. As much happiness as we could ever have. These... Stones, these walls... There's so much history." He stops again, his eyes suddenly stricken. "He took it all away from us."

Klaus' tone indicates that he's probably not really talking to her again, that the alcohol is making him say out loud the things that come to his head as he gets lost in his blast from the past. Caroline feels like a complete outsider, bearing witness to something that is way too personal. Almost like reading someone's diary. She doesn't know what to do. What _not_ to do. They're not buddies. Not even close, really, weird-connection-she-can't-figure-out-but-that-seems-to-grow-stronger-each-day-they-spend-together-in-this-hell-hole notwithstanding. What is the appropriate etiquette for when someone you're not exactly friends with and who has a long history of doing terrible things to people you care about is lying on the floor of his old home, totally pissed, torturing himself by tearing all sort of awful memory out of the depth of his crooked mind?

Caroline is great at giving moral support, she's a wonderful shoulder to cry on and definitely your girl if you need someone to help with creative revenge plots against guys who break her friends' hearts. She is also a brilliant hugger and mixes some mean margaritas. But handling millennium-old sad, vulnerable vampires with way too much baggage is not among her strong suits.

She stands there for a while, feeling awkward and in need of a hole to crawl into, but also very bad for not doing anything. That's just the thing. Caroline can't _stand_ to see someone in such obvious pain and not help. Even if that person is Klaus and she has no idea _how_ to help.

She gets a bit closer to him, uncrosses her arms and says, with as much gentleness as she can muster, "Mikael is gone, Klaus. You killed him."

His eyes cut to her with a harsh look. "He's never completely gone. He never had to be a presence to hurt me. To hurt us all. All it took was his shadow to loom over us, his name to come to us as a whisper in the wind. I'm not sure there's a way to vanquish that. He still gets to me, from beyond the grave." Klaus' feature is pinched now, wrought deep with an expression. "I am what he made of me. Every bit the monster, the abomination he claimed I was, long before even I knew the truth. He pursued all of us, but his only real target was me. I always wondered if he wouldn't have spared the others if they'd turned me in. The doubt ate away at me my whole life. The fear that my own brothers and sister would deliver me to our father in return for their freedom."

Well, that explains a _lot_. Why Klaus would keep daggering his siblings and carrying them around in coffins like a creep, for starters. To anyone paying the slightest bit of attention, it is quite clear that Klaus has some pretty deep wounds and insecurities; something Caroline is quite familiar with herself. Only her way of processing her self-doubting was never anything like Klaus' - perhaps because she had a support system that was there by her side through thick and thin. People she could trust her life with, blindly. Stefan was right; they've all done varying degrees of terrible things. What sets them apart from Klaus is that they had something he didn't. Something that was taken from him by force, by his own father, who never loved him, and by his mother, who cursed him and his siblings to eternal damnation. Something he became so hopelessly afraid of losing again that he denied himself every chance to have it, afraid that it would make him weaker, that it would destroy him if it was ever taken away.

Love.

Anyone betrayed and treated so badly by the very people who were supposed to be their greatest protectors is bound to come out the other side damaged goods. It would screw up anyone's head. It just so happens that this screwed up head belongs to a powerful immortal being. Not exactly a winning combination, is it?

Caroline understands with a clarity she never had before that all the violence, the aggression, the lashing out, is Klaus making up for something. The bastard son who lived his whole life with the scars of being rejected, and afraid he'd be cast out by his siblings. One day, many, many years ago, that fear of abandonment turned into paranoia, and the paranoia into a hostility that ate away at him inside, until it destroyed him completely. Made him the monster he is today. The one who kills, tortures, threatens indiscriminately, without a single thought, taking enemies and allies alike down like flies if they dare to stand in his way.

Evil isn't born. Evil is made.

Except... Looking at him right now, Caroline doesn't really see evil. She doesn't see a monster. That's the thing about Klaus. Some days he's barely human. And then there are those rare days when he's so unbelievably human Caroline can hardly stand to look at him.

She lets out a dejected sigh and sits down next to him on the floor. Klaus looks at her, a little forlorn, and then looks away again, back to the ceiling.

"Your siblings never rattled you out, Klaus," she says. "I'm sure they had plenty of opportunities to do it in a thousand years, but they didn't."

"Finn would've. I knew he'd be the first one to break. He would've killed us himself if he could. It's why I had to keep him daggered for most of his life. Kol... He was reckless. Incapable of thinking logically, far too quick to give in to his vulgar inclinations. His refusal to conform led Mikael to us more than once. I don't doubt he would've made a misguided deal with our father, if he thought it would benefit him. He was always so angry with the lot of us. He'd be wrong, of course. Mikael would've killed him too. His despise for Kol was second only to his hatred for me. Elijah..." Klaus pauses for a second, and there's no mistaking how his feelings for Elijah differ from those for his other two brothers. "His loyalty forbade him from breaking his vow, but his moral compass meant that he was never one to tolerate my wavering moods for too long. As for Rebekah -"

"Rebekah never left you," Caroline cuts in. "She's still in Mystic Falls, even now."

Klaus laughs a hollow laugh.

"Rebekah's always been my favorite. And still I have stood in the way of her happiness. I love her too much. My little sister... A thousand years couldn't harden her enough for this world. So quick to give out her heart. I had to protect her from her terrible judgement, and I wasn't always kind about it. I couldn't bear the thought of her choosing to leave me and yet... I frequently put our bond to test. She moved out, did you know that?"

"Yeah, I heard."

"Couldn't stand me anymore. I know she's thought of having me killed several times."

"Haven't we all?"

Klaus smiles at her, an awfully sad glint in his eyes. "She's my sister."

"She never really meant it, Klaus."

"She hates me," he says, focusing back on the ceiling. "She won't come for me."

"What do you mean?"

"No one is coming for me. If this pursuit of the Bennett witch proves fruitless, if we can't find our way out of here by our on means, then I am fated to stay here and rot for the rest of my life. Your friends will come for you, they'll find a way to set you free. Silas needs their support. He's got leverage and he'll bargain. I, on the other hand... Seem to have run out of champions."

The words snag slightly in Klaus's throat, and the emotion in his voice surprises Caroline. It all boils down to the same thing: he is, once more, afraid to be left behind.

For the longest time, Caroline thought the only thing Klaus had ever been afraid of was Mikael, a fear he conquered by killing his father with his own hands. A thousand years’ worth of nightmares burned right in front of his eyes. But Mikael wasn't the whole picture. He was a symptom, not the disease. What really, truly scares Klaus is the thought of being alone and forgotten.

It's so very human of him, even if his way of dealing with that is far from it.

It's only taken her almost three years, a whole lot of crap, being trapped in an imaginary world, running over a dog, almost murdering him at least two and a half times in the space of a single day and two whole bottles of bourbon, but Caroline has finally found the gap in Klaus' charming, malevolent veneer to uncover the thing she always knew, in her heart, had been lurking within.

His humanity. Crippled, dusty and relegated to an unattended corner of his twisted immortal soul, but not dead. Not yet.

There's a hopeless expression in his eyes, the type that requires another person to help melt it away. Instinctively, Caroline reaches out and takes his hand.

"I told you I'm not leaving you behind," she says in what she hopes is a reassuring manner.

"I threatened that promise out of you. It doesn't mean anything. It's just words. When the time comes, and you have to choose between rescuing me and allowing Tyler his freedom as well as his justice, what will you choose, Caroline? Be honest. I won't hold it against you."

Caroline exhales sharply. "Why is it that you never believe that someone would do something for you selflessly, just because they want to or because they can? Why must there always be a _reason_? You don't even think your sister would come for you. That's the problem with choosing fear over love, Klaus. It only gets you so far. The only way to truly have someone's loyalty is to earn it. No one's going to stick by your side no matter what unless they really care about you."

"And no one does. What monster would ever be worthy of such noble feelings?" he drawls, his mouth slant in a not-quite smile.

"The more you make yourself out to be a monster, the more your paranoia blinds you. Just think for a moment. Your sister has not left you. She moved out of your house, fine. But she's still in Mystic Falls. She could've gone _anywhere_ , disappeared in the world like Elijah did the second he was free. But she stayed behind. Why do you think that is? It's as hard for her to leave you as it is for you to leave her. You've been around each other for a thousand years, it's totally understandable that you'll want to tear at each other's throats from time to time; you can't hold that against her. We've been stuck here together for barely a week and God knows how many times I've wanted to kill you. But you're the only constant in Rebekah's life. If she learns you're in danger, Klaus, she'll be at Silas' throat in a second. I may not like your sister, but I do admire her fire. And if you tell her I said that, I'll deny everything." She stops, knowing her next words probably require some more consideration because the second it comes out, she will never be able to take it back.

"You never had to threaten me. We're in this together. You have my back and I'll have yours. It's how it works. So to answer your question, I wouldn't leave you here. You have no idea how crazy I felt when I woke up in this place. I was seriously freaking out. Wouldn't have lasted a whole day with my sanity intact if I hadn't -" She pauses, biting on her lower lip. Whoever decided that it has to be so hard to admit certain things to someone you're socially pressured to despise? "If I hadn't found you. Your murderous hybrid eyes were the first familiar thing I saw after I got here, and I was... Happier than I've ever thought I'd be to see you. Relieved. Because I knew then that I wasn't alone. Even if it was you. Don't get me wrong, Klaus. You drive me insane. I want to drown you in a bag at least twice a day." He laughs, and the sound tugs at something deep in Caroline's chest. "But I couldn't do this without you. So no, I won't leave you behind. And it has nothing to do with you threatening Tyler; that just pissed me off. Maybe... Deep down... Even though I _shouldn't_... I just care."

Klaus squeezes Caroline's hand and she doesn't really know what that means, if he's thanking her or just showing some appreciation, but she feels something passing between them, like energy or an unspoken promise, so she squeezes his hand back.

It's not her job to sit here soothing Klaus' centuries-old family traumas, she doesn't even think she's the most appropriate person to do that, but it doesn't cost her anything to show a little empathy and some reassurance. Hard feelings and old grudges will have to stay on hold for a while.

Klaus' eyes dart down to their joined hands, his thumb making gentle circles on Caroline's skin, sending little sparks running up her arm. She keeps her eyes trained on his face, the way his skin looks like a marbled mask, all the tiny imperfections and expression marks wiped off by the harsh, white light coming in from the broken double doors that lead to the balcony. His eyes are alight, a clear, electric shade of blue, his lips full and pink. He looks like a Greek sculpture come to life. It occurs to Caroline that this is what she always thought vampires would look like before she learned they actually existed. Pale like a corpse; bright, haunted eyes; face impassive, inscrutable; and so very beautiful.

When he matches his gaze back with hers, she feels caught out. Her heart jumps in her chest, her cheeks flushing, though she does not look away.

For a moment it seems like he wants to say something, or do something, and God have mercy on her soul, but Caroline is on the figurative edge of her seat, hoping that he will. In fact, she's almost pushing him to do it. She's tipsy but he's way worse and she really wants to be able to blame him for anything inappropriate that she may or may not be thinking. In spite of all his careless disregard for human life, Klaus seems to have an inexplicable respect for boundaries when it comes to her and Caroline _knows_ , in some subconscious level, that she should be grateful for at least that, but when he lets go of her hand, she just wants to grab him by the shoulders and shake him until he realizes that sometimes, when a girl looks like she's begging you to kiss her, that's _exactly_ what you should do, boundaries be damned.

But the moment passes them by. Maybe tomorrow, when she wakes up completely sober and Klaus goes back to annoying the hell out of her, Caroline will be glad that there are still some morals left in him, however feeble. Right now, however, she's just very frustrated.

"You know, I wouldn't have fared much better by myself," he says.

She snorts. "Please. You'd be fine, Klaus."

He gives her a crooked little grin. "I'm known to have a bit of a temper, haven't you heard? I wouldn't have been able to keep it in check if you weren't here. I don't think I would've gone very far."

Caroline laughs once, all irony. "You mean the past four days were you keeping your temper _in check_? You could've fooled me." They fall back into silence and, for once, it doesn't feel like it's full of spikes. "It's getting late," Caroline mutters. "There's a hotel right across the street. We need to grab our stuff and check in for the night."

Klaus sighs. "You go ahead. I think I'll stay here a while longer."

She really is exhausted and her body is _begging_ for mercy. Today has been a killer combination of long hours on the road and a whirlwind of emotions. Reasonable Caroline would wish Klaus a good night, get up and go take care of herself while he deals with his problems. But then there is this other side of her that tells her she shouldn't leave people alone with their demons, even if said people happen to be a demon in his own merit.

"Do you really want to be alone?" she asks, and Klaus stares at her inquisitively. "Because if you do, I can leave you. But I think, sometimes, when you want to be left alone the most, it's exactly when you shouldn't be."

She waits for Klaus to send her away or tell her to stay, but he does neither. He just gets a very complicated expression Caroline can't really decipher and she realizes there are certain things he just doesn't know how to say. A thousand years of wickedness and toxic behavior and you kind of lose touch with one or two basic things about being human.

Threatening her life and that of everyone she knows? Sure. Asking her to please not leave him alone in a particularly difficult time? Well...

Already questioning her own soundness, Caroline lies down next to him, shoulders almost touching, and makes herself as comfortable as she can, which, admittedly, isn't much. But the painting on the ceiling really does look rather nice from that angle. "Maybe I'll hire you to paint the ceiling on my dorm room when I leave for college," she says. "What are your fees like?"

"Way above your pay rate, sweetheart." Caroline chuckles. "But I could be persuaded to offer you a friendly discount."

"I should hope so, after today. Speaking of which, you really need to get yourself together, Klaus. I'm the high school student and you're the thousand years old dude. I shouldn't have to be taking care of you. What's up with that?"

"Why are you?"

"Clearly because I have no self-respect," she says, only half-joking, but when Klaus remains quiet, she realizes she should probably offer the serious version. Caroline considers it for a beat. "You're hurting. This place is hurting you, a lot more than it's hurting me. And I have a feeling it's meant to be like this, though I can't figure out why. You've been struggling since day one."

"You're not wrong. This is my personal nightmare," he responds quietly. "Silas seems to have built it to a fault. It's everything I loathe the most. I'm weak. Powerless. Helpless. Utterly alone."

"I think we've established that last part is not true."

Klaus smiles ruefully. "It's my fault that you're here."

She stops, frowns. "What?"

"You're here because I am."

"Klaus," she says, drawing out his name as an admonishment and fixing him with a dead serious stare. "What the hell do you mean?"

"It's not like that, love. I didn't bring you here myself."

"Well? Then what? Explain it."

"Silas has been draining my energy. I can feel it. There's this constant flow ebbing away, and then sometimes it gets stronger, like someone is stealing the breath out of my chest. He's using me for something, I don't know what. But it's making me weaker by the second."

"Is that what's happening to you? Why you look sick and tired all the time?"

"I suppose so. When I close my eyes and fall asleep, it's not really like sleeping at all. I don't feel rested. It's strange. Like I get transported somewhere else, somewhere dark and empty, where I'm awake, but... There's nothing. No one. Not even a sound."

"How long have you known all that?"

"A while."

"And why am I only hearing of that now?!" she demands.

"Because, Caroline, I didn't want you to think that I'm useless or treat me as an invalid," he says, in a very matter-of-fact tune, turning his face to the side to meet her eyes.

"I wouldn't -" she starts, then stops, because, well. He's got a point. "You still should've told me. How serious is it?"

"I don't know. He can't kill me, unless he's got his hands on the white oak, but obviously if he can keep me trapped in a dream manipulation such as this, then he's a force to be reckoned with."

"Why would he need your energy?"

"It's anyone's guess. I can think of several reasons."

"Of course you can. Evil minds think alike. You're gonna have to enlighten me."

"He could be channeling me to power a spell, perhaps the very one that will bring down the veil. Or he could be strengthening himself, preparing for something big. I take it channeling an Original is a rather faster and more practical way to acquire energy than draining veins."

"Does it hurt?" she asks.

"Sometimes."

"How bad? What does it feel like when you -"

"Caroline."

"I want to know."

"What good will it make to know?"

"You've been keeping things from me. I deserve to know."

"It feels..." he starts, trails off, thoughtful, and then, "It feels like dying."

Caroline's breath hitches. She has to look away from him as a cold spreads in her guts. All this time, Klaus has been dying a little bit. It's why he's always so reluctant to get hotels or stop for the evening.

_It feels like dying._

"I... I still don't get it, Klaus," she starts again, stuttering a little. "You said I'm here because of you, but I don't feel anything."

"Don't you understand, love? We serve different purposes. Whatever Silas is doing, he needs time, and for that he needs to keep me here for as long as possible. You're here playing the same part you always do."

"What part?"

He smiles. "Distraction device."

"I want to get out of here just as much as you do. How exactly am I distracting you?" Klaus raises his eyebrows at her, she rolls her eyes. "You being drunk and having an existential crisis is hardly my fault."

"How fast do you think I would've made it to New Orleans if not for you?"

"Are you blaming me -"

"No, Caroline, I'm not blaming you," he says, cutting off her indignation before it builds up. "You've been quite reasonable, for the most part, even if I haven't shown myself to be particularly cooperative. The point is, I wouldn't have waited before coming here and I wouldn't have stopped on the road and I would certainly not have spent hours at that bar, desperate for your forgiveness. It's entirely possible I would've gotten myself killed rather fast in the middle of all that frenzy considering my debilitated condition, but it's also possible that I would've just solved the puzzle and carved my way towards wakefulness just as fast."

Caroline's lips twist up into a bitter smile. She wants to think of reasons to challenge the idea that she's just a burden Klaus was made to carry around as part of a strategy from Silas but, again, can't find any flaws in his logic. "So I really _am_ the reason you're still stuck here and Silas was a smart bastard to bring me along. If you die and I never get the hell out of this place, it'll be all my fault."

"Caroline," Klaus says softly, placing his hand on top of hers and giving it a gentle squeeze, forcing her to turn to him again.

Maybe alcohol has made him mushy, or something, but Caroline doesn't find a single trace of bitterness or annoyance in his eyes, and this, she feels, is the classic situation where Klaus should be out of his mind furious. And since he can't exactly direct his anger at Silas, not right now, anyway, not until they actually figure out how to wake up from this nightmare, she is likely the next best thing. The rock in his path, hindering his progress, unwittingly holding the great Original hybrid back.

"Why aren't you mad about this? Why aren't you mad at me?" she asks.

"Because, in spite of what my behavior may suggest, I'm glad that you're here."

The rare simplicity of Klaus' answer seems to lift a weight off of Caroline's chest. Something in the way he looks at her, totally unguarded, chips away at her armor, dwindling her self-imposed resistance to him. She's been trying very hard to be strong, to hide her fear from Klaus, refusing to let him see just how terrified she really is, when all she wants to do, all the time, is curl up in a corner and scream until her throat bleeds and her lungs collapse and this all goes away.

She always feels like walking on eggs around Klaus. You never know when you're going to hit a nerve. He is who he is, and she can never forget that. But for the first time since she woke up here, Caroline feels herself truly relaxing, her walls coming down all around her. She feels fragile and exposed, but for once she's not afraid of having that used against her.

She feels... Safe.

"I'm scared," she admits, lowly. "I know I bark a lot and I put up a damn good front, but I'm just... So scared. I don't know what's happening to us and I don't know what to do and I _hate_ not knowing. I'm terrified that we're never getting out of here."

Klaus reaches out and pulls a blond lock that was falling over her eyes behind her ear, letting the tip of his fingers linger against her skin just a little bit too long. His voice is steady and reassuring as he says, "We're getting out. If it's the last thing I do."

Caroline smiles. "Good. Because you should know I'm betting all my chips on you."

"Well, I wouldn't want to disappoint you, would I?" he asks, raising his eyebrows.

Caroline chuckles lazily. "That's debatable, but... I sure hope not. Now, if you don't mind, I think I need to close my eyes for a moment." Before she's even done talking, she's already letting her heavy lids fall shut. Her hand searches Klaus' again, as though out of its own volition, and she laces their fingers together.

The last thing she hears before her mind shuts down and she's finally beaten by exhaustion is Klaus' raspy voice saying, "Sweet dreams, love."

 

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

 

She wakes up with warm sunlight seeping in through the broken double doors.

She stirs, feeling something soft and warm next to her. Caroline snuggles up against it, glad for the tiny bit of comfort after long rough days. But... She fell asleep on the floor, didn't she? How come...?

Clarity slowly begins to trickle in with wakefulness. The soft, warn thing she's curled up against is a body. That thing she's nuzzling her nose into is the curve of someone's neck. That lulling movement under her head is the gentle rising and falling of someone's breath. And that thing brushing lightly against the bit of exposed skin on her waist, between her jeans and her shirt, is someone's fingertips, because there’s an arm draped around her, pulling her into a loose embrace.

Shit.

_Shit. Shit. Shit._

Caroline winces inwardly, going from totally relaxed to tense and stiff as realization dawns on her. Part of her is grateful Klaus didn't mind being used as human pillow, because she'd likely have a terrible back ache to go along with everything else now otherwise, but this is just... Too awkward.

She becomes very still, afraid that any sudden moves might wake Klaus and then things will get a hundred times worse. �She dares to crack her eyes open, move her face just an inch up. So far, Klaus seems to be soundly asleep, totally unaware of the girl having a tiny panic attack right next to him - almost half on top of him, more precisely.

At some point, she's gonna have to move, and it's probably for the best that she disentangles herself from him while he's still asleep, without the smirking and the colorful commentary he'd likely offer.

Holding her breath, Caroline slow and carefully snakes out of his embrace and sits up. Klaus stirs a little, turns his face to the other side and drapes over his stomach the arm that was formerly in contact with a patch of skin on her body that still feels a little tingly. But, to her relief, he sleeps on.

Sighing, and convinced that he's just as oblivious to how inappropriately cuddly they became over the night, Caroline allows herself to actually _look_ at him. He seems... Peaceful. At rest. She wonders if he was blessed with the same good night of sleep that she had, or if he's trapped in that dark place he mentioned. She hopes it's the former. Even the devil deserves a break.

Last night was... _Something_. Caroline isn't entirely sure _what_ just yet, so early in the morning, her brain not yet fully functioning and obviously befuddled by the latest developments. To be perfectly honest, she isn't even sure she _wants_ to understand it. It seems like this might be one of those things that are better left in obscurity. But this much she knows: there was a line, an invisible barrier between her and Klaus that they dared not cross. For her, that barrier kept Klaus firmly in the realm of fantasy. The Klaus that sparked certain inappropriate thoughts and dangerous considerations existed solely in the abstract. Real life Klaus was barely human. But the barrier is now down, and abstract Klaus has been suddenly made tangible. Fleshed out, beating heart and everything. And the implications of that are... overwhelming, to say the least.

It had been easy to pretend that everything she felt and thought the night before had been down to the booze, but that's hardly the case anymore. Confused though she may be, she is definitely not _drunk_. And yet the sensation lingers. That strange flutter, deep in her chest.

Plain and simple _want_.

Maybe, in a few more hours or days, or as soon as they get out of this place, she'll realize this has all been a figment of her imagination, born out of loneliness and fear and a desperate need for something to hold on to. Maybe it's not coming from her at all. But maybe it is. Maybe it's real. And the possibility leaves Caroline cold.

That's it, she needs to get the hell out of there, put as much distance between herself and Klaus as possible. At least until it's safe. Until the hangover has dissipated and she can knock some sense back into her clouded head.

Caroline tiptoes out of the room and only breathes again when she's made it to the street. On a scale from 1 to Klaus, she figures the odds of starting a war for not waking him up and leaving him behind are pretty close to Murderous Hybrid level, but this is for the best. For _everyone's_ best.

After she retrieves her things from the car, she heads to the hotel across the street from the Mikaelson compound, gets herself a room - and another _separate_ one for Klaus - and texts him the info to let him know where she is.

 

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

 

After a very long bath, followed by a generous breakfast in the extremely comfy bed that is all hers, Caroline gives herself a minute to regard her possibilities. She could wait for Klaus to show up, rise above the awkwardness and find out what he has in mind - if he even has anything in mind besides hangover, that is - or she could take a day off. They have nothing to do until midnight, when the witch festivities are scheduled to start at the French Quarter. Until then, Caroline can forget about everything, including the fresh batch of complications she's added to an already long list of shit to deal with, and pretend she's just another tourist in New Orleans.

It's really not a hard choice at all.

_Went out for a bit. Trying to find SB._

She's not really trying to find Sheila at all, but Klaus doesn't have to know that.

New Orleans has been in Caroline's top ten places to visit for years. And she hasn't been out for twenty minutes before she concludes that she has _got_ to come here in the real world sometime soon. The city is absolutely incredible. So vibrant and full of life and music and _people_. It comes alive under the sunlight, rich with smells and colors and the sounds of laughter mixed up with jazz.

Small towns like Mystic Falls hold a very unique kind of charm, but nothing beats a city with a soul like New Orleans'. It has _heat_ , character. Like a living thing.

Caroline loses herself circulating around Jackson Square. It's filled with street artists, from musicians, to dancers, to painters. She could stay there for hours and never get bored. There's more stuff going on in that one square of New Orleans than in the entire city of Mystic Falls for a year, if you disregard the supernatural shenanigans.

She's walking by the row of _witches_ reading people's fortunes when one of them catches her eye, smiling. She beckons Caroline to come closer, but Caroline laughs it off. If foretelling the future was that easy, she doubts Bonnie would get in as much trouble as she does.

But then she stops, thinks again.

She's not doing anything and this isn't even the real world. What the hell, right?

She kind of has to wonder what a fake witch would have to tell her fake human self in a fake world.

And the answer is: nothing interesting.

The woman showers Caroline with encouraging amenities and promises of a bright, happy life where all her dreams will come true.

"Do you ever tell people that they're going to die? Or that they're being cheated on by their significant other? Or maybe that they're not going to get that dream job they want?" she asks the witch.

The woman gives her a cryptic smile. "That depends. If I sense they're more likely to believe me if I foretell tragedies, yes. Most people just want to know the good parts. Which do you prefer?"

"You're the psychic. What do you think?"

The witch narrows her eyes a bit and searches Caroline's face for a moment. "I think you won't be easily fooled by pleasantries."

"Well, I'm not too fond of the tragedies, either."

"No, you're not. I think you prefer honesty."

"Ok," Caroline drawls. "And what is honesty?"

The woman closes her eyes and waves her hands in front of Caroline's face, muttering some indistinct words under her breath. It sounds very proper witchy stuff, so she gets an A for effort, at least.

"You are very loved, child," the witch says after a moment, smiling softly at her. "The one you have on your mind has very strong feelings for you, too. Is he here with you?"

"No," Caroline replies drily, suddenly not that interested anymore. "I have no one on my mind and I came here by myself."

"Oh," the witch frowns. "I could swear I felt him near. He must be thinking of you, then."

"Well, you better refine your sixth sense before your next customer. I have no idea what you're talking about," she says, leaving a few crumpled dollar bills on the table and marching away.

After that, Caroline decides to stay clear off the psychic charlatans.

The voodoo shops are more interesting - and promising - but the name Sheila Bennett rings no bells. "But there will be a witch parade tonight," they all say, like that's supposed to keep Caroline's hopes up. "If she's a New Orleans witch, she'll be there for sure."

Just as she imagined, the chances of anything happening before the parade are slim to none, so Caroline resigns herself to sitting down at a corner café and trying some of the local pastries. And it's everything she could possibly want. Beignets, some guy playing the sax on the corner and the sun on her skin.

She has a feeling Klaus would appreciate the moment just as much as she does, that this is exactly why he loves New Orleans so much. Caroline can definitely see the appeal. Why he would ever want to stick around Mystic Falls when there are cities out there like New Orleans calling out to him is just beyond her.

 _The one you have on your mind has very strong feelings for you, too_.

Caroline shakes off the witch's voice. She did _not_ come here to think about Klaus. The whole purpose of today was to clear her head. She was doing great until that woman started whispering some half-assed lies she probably tells every woman without a ring on her finger who sits in front of her for a reading, and it just so happened to hit a nerve with Caroline. Purely coincidental.

_Whatever._

She orders a large cappuccino and wills the witch and Klaus and everything else off her mind.

The experience proves to be replenishing. Caroline is feeling lighter and in high spirits when she goes back to the hotel, just as the afternoon is reaching its dying moments. She wishes she had more time to enjoy the city, go to a jazz club, to a proper bar, hit one of the many parties she saw being advertised all over the place.

It's only when she's almost at her room that it hits her that there is something off and that maybe willing herself to forget all about Klaus was not such a smart move.

She hasn't heard from him all day. No calls, no surprise appearances, not even a single text. Caroline does not want to start acting like a clingy girlfriend, but it just doesn't seem like Klaus at all to go MIA like this, considering the situation. At the very least he would've called to ask whether she found any leads on Sheila and confirm that she hasn't run away without him yet. This radio silence just rubs Caroline the wrong way.

 _Fuck_.

Caroline is already fishing her phone out of her jacket when she opens the door and spots the fancy package with a huge red ribbon on her bed.

She stops, momentarily taken aback. Everything seems to be exactly as it was when she left, no signs that anyone has been in the room, not even hotel people - except, of course, for the weird package. She approaches it suspiciously, a million possibilities going through her head. There's a card with her name on it in a handwriting she doesn't recognize, but no signature.

Tentatively, she undoes the ribbon and removes the lid on the pretty box, almost scared of what she's going to find.

It's a dress.

" _What the..._ " Caroline mutters.

It's not just any dress. It's a ball gown. And a gorgeous one at that. She gasps when she pulls it out of the box. It's obviously expensive, the kind of thing she'd never be able to afford in a million years, fit for a Hollywood movie star. And suddenly she knows exactly where that came from.

Klaus answers his phone after the first ring.

"Finally! I was starting to worry you got lost. Did you find my gift?"

"What the hell is this, Klaus?"

"Have you opened the box?"

"Of course I have."

"Then you know exactly what it is."

"Why did you buy me a dress?"

"Because we're going to a party."

"I thought we were going to a parade?"

"We are, later. But before that, we have a party to attend. Try it on, see if it fits. I'll be waiting for you at the compound when you're ready. Do try not to take too long, yes? We're on a tight schedule."

"Klaus -"

"No time to waste, sweetheart. Clock is ticking."

Before Caroline can say anything else, he ends the call.

Well, shit. It sounds like leaving him on his own was definitely not a good idea.

Klaus Mikaelson has finally lost his mind.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **A/N:** I know technically Rebekah _did_ betray Klaus and rattled him out to their father, but remember this is post TVD 4x18, so Klaus doesn't know that yet.
> 
>  **A/N2:** About the compound, it's meant to be really falling apart, in conditions far worse than what we see in TO. It wasn't at its best then (Elijah does some renovations at some point), but in this story, no one has occupied it for a 100 years. Think of something more in the lines of what it looked like after Klaus' 5 years of imprisonment in season 4, but worse. Also, the whole painted ceilings exists only in my head. I did check out the actual ceilings in the show and decided that, a hundred years in the past, there could've been some layers there covering the wooden structure that we see in some scenes. That's it, I have no other excuse, I just liked the idea.
> 
>  **A/N3:** The description of Caroline's dress is vague on purpose. First time I wrote this I couldn't pick a dress for the life of me. Months later and I STILL can't get myself to choose one. So you get to decide what the dress looks like. :D
> 
>  **A/N4:** A/N 4: The lyrics at the beginning are from _The Wolf_ by Mumford and Sons.
> 
> So, thoughts? Let me know what you think of this chapter. :) Thanks for reading!


	9. Can't Fight This Feeling

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So this is kind of a major chapter in the whole of the story and I'm really looking forward to what you guys think. I hope it doesn't disappoint. :) I did a lot of rewriting and deleted several parts (it's almost 1k words shorter than it was the first time I posted), but it's basically still the same. 
> 
> Since chapter 10 was only up for maybe a couple of days last time I posted the story and most of you probably didn't get to read it, I consider this to be the last of the old stuff. And then after chapter 10, it's all new updates. How fast it'll come depends on how inclined to write/edit I'll feel.
> 
> So if you like this story and if you want to keep getting frequent updates, PLEASE drop me a note. It's so important to help this story find more readers and it also makes me super happy and eager to continue. Let me know your thoughts!

The idea of hitting a party when the guillotine is ready to drop on their necks is completely bonkers. They have work to do, should be thinking up strategies, outlining plans B, C and D in case everything goes wrong tonight. Instead, they're getting ready for a fancy bash.

And the craziest part is, Caroline is at embarrassing levels of excited about it.

That is one goddamn gorgeous dress Klaus found her.

If there's one thing being a beauty queen has taught Caroline is to never underestimate the power of the perfect dress over a girl's confidence. And when she puts on that dress, she feels _incredible_. Not just because she looks hot, which - obviously. But it's more than that. It's about feeling like her best self. Like vampire Caroline, the one who wouldn't take crap from anyone, was scared of nothing and didn't let her insecurities get in her way.

With everything going on, it's good to remember she's still that girl. The one who feels attractive on the outside because she is fierce on the inside, because she feels _powerful_.

She wonders if Klaus knows all that, or if he just happens to have an uncanny taste for ball gowns. Knowing him, she doesn't find it hard to believe that he truly is that perceptive. As much as she'd like to scold him for being clearly distracted and weird when they have more important things to worry about, she's so in awe of the dress of how _perfectly_ it suits her that she's willing to indulge him for a couple of hours just for a chance to wear it.

It would've been nice to give her a little heads up, though. She didn't come prepared for fancy parties. No accessories, no shoes, no curling iron... She'll just have to make do with what she's got.

She's nothing if not resourceful.

It is a challenge to her beautifying skills, but she gives herself a nice pet on the back for all those hours watching tutorials on YouTube. She ties her hair up in a messy bun that is perhaps a little too contemporary to go with such a classic dress, but looks superb anyway. There's nothing to do about the shoes, though, which is unfortunate, but Caroline had a moment of enlightenment when she threw a pair of white flats in her bag. It’s not ideal, but still a massive improvement on the sneakers she’s been wearing almost every day.

No doubt she could do much better with more time but, all in all, she’s happy with the result. If no one looks at her feet, she’ll be fine.

She has no idea why Klaus would wait for her at the compound, though. Wouldn't it be much easier for them to meet at the hotel lobby?

Caroline crosses the street, smiling sheepishly at the people staring at her as she pulls opens the gate with all the care in the world not to let the nasty rustiness touch her gown.

What she finds when she crosses the arched entranced into the courtyard is... Well, not what she was expecting.

Caroline stops dead on her track, mouth agape. It doesn't even look like the same place she visited the night before.

What was a war zone less than 24 hours ago has been completely transformed. It doesn’t just look like the courtyard was cleaned and polished up; it’s like it went through an extensive renovation. The worst of the weeds was cut off and the vine plants covering the walls, trimmed. Where there was trash and junk, now there are beautiful lush trees in large vases and fancy-looking furniture. A huge, majestic table for at least 12 people was set in one corner, and garden chairs disposed around a center table on the other side. Nice-looking iron railings replaced the destroyed wooden ones. Even the fountain is working again, with clear water flowing from the top.

And if the transformation alone wasn’t enough to impress her, then the decor definitely is.

There are beautiful crystal chandeliers hanging above the table, all lit up. Candles disposed all around the courtyard, in varying sizes and shapes, cast dancing shadows with its warm flickering lights. Flowers are set all over in gorgeous arrangements, decorating the trees, the railings, elegantly placed on the table and floating on the water in the fountain basin. And the fairy lights... So, so many of them. Over the railings and cascading down the walls and hanging from above like a starry sky, giving the entire place an ethereal and intimate atmosphere.

It’s unbelievably beautiful.

Caroline is stunned, so fascinated and confused by everything she can't even move, but it doesn’t go unnoticed that she appears to be the only person in the compound. It's clear this is where the party is taking place. So where is everyone? She did hurry getting ready because Klaus made it sound like she was already late, but now she’s thinking she may have been a little _too_ quick.

But even if that’s the case, shouldn’t the hosts be here already? Or at least someone to welcome the guests, offer them something to drink while they wait for whatever this is meant to be to start? There wasn’t even anyone to let her in, she had to open that awful rusty gate on her own and unless there’s another entrance she’s not aware of, that is very strange, not to mention rude, considering how high profile the party seems to be. Caroline’s organized enough events to know exactly how these things go. She’d be freaking out if it was her party, that’s for sure. What kind of person organizes something this grand and just... leaves?

Now that she thinks about it, who would choose to throw a party _here_ , of all places? Surely there are better suited and easier venues to work with in the Quarter. The whole building looked like a dumpsite one windy storm away from falling apart. The cleaning up alone must've cost a fortune, and it had to be coordinated with all the structural and electrical repairs. Unless the compound has some kind of special meaning to whoever is doing this, it makes no sense. What could Klaus’ abandoned family home possibly mean to anyone else?

Unless...

_Oh shit._

Sure enough, as soon as she goes searching, she finds him. Leaning over the railing on the second floor, next to the staircase, smiling. He was probably there all along, amusing himself as he watched the initial shock wear off and Caroline go from marveled to lost to finally connecting the dots.

She wants to immediately launch into an interrogation, a thousand questions going through her mind all at once, but something detains her. She hasn’t got a clue on what the hell is happening, but she has a _feeling_. And that feeling turns into a quake at the pit of her stomach as Klaus comes down the stairs to join her.

The way he looks at her, as though she’s the brightest thing in the whole courtyard, casting everything else around her in shadow, makes her heart skip a beat, her mouth go dry and the hair on the back of her head stand to attention. Caroline has no idea why, but she is suddenly very nervous.

He’s all dressed for the occasion himself, as dapper as she’s ever seen him in fit black trousers, a deep purple button down shirt and a perfectly cut black jacket. Proper and elegant, but in a very _Klaus_ way. His hair is impeccably fixed and his stubble, after a few days of a rougher, more lackadaisical look, has been trimmed.

Klaus just looks _hot_. Not in an adorably deceptive _your mother will love to meet me_ way, which is what he went for on that Miss Mystic mock-date of theirs. Today he seems... More like himself. Dangerous. _I will steal you from your boyfriend and have you screaming my name_ hot.

Caroline swallows down hard.

“You’ve never looked more beautiful,” he says as he stops in front of her, smiling like sunbeam. Caroline can’t tell if she’s blushing or not, all flustered under his attentive scrutiny as she is, but she just assumes the answer is yes.

“I, uhm...” she stammers. “Thanks. You look... Good. Too. You look nice.”

He smirks, not so subtly enjoying her disconcert. “Why, thank you, love.”

“What...” Caroline feels the words snagging at the back of her throat, stops, then tries again. “What is going on?”

“Haven’t you realized yet?”

“Realized what?”

“Caroline Forbes,” Klaus says in a theatrical manner, gesticulating towards the courtyard. “Welcome to your prom night.”

_What?_

Caroline blinks at him. Once, twice, three times. She can’t have heard it right.

“Well, since you can’t make it to your actual prom, I figured your prom should come to you. There are no guests, alas, and it’s probably nothing compared to a Caroline Forbes-branded party, but it’s the best that could be arranged in such short notice.”

Caroline gapes.

“You did all this... For me?”

“Well, I did have help.”

“How? You can’t compel people.”

“Compulsion is not my only weapon, love.” Klaus smiles smugly, all proud of himself. “I’m told I’m quite charming in the rare occasions I want to be.”

Caroline opens her mouth like she's going to say something, but finds herself completely unable to produce any kind of coherent sounds. She looks away from him, her gaze wandering to take in the courtyard again. That wreckage of a building, deftly transformed into the most original party venue she's ever seen, all in less than 24 hours. It must've been a nightmare to do all this in so little time. If anyone had asked her yesterday whether she thought it was possible, she would've said no without missing a beat and labeled anyone who tried crazy.

And it was all done for her.

"I hope you find it to be up to your standards," Klaus says.

"It's... Perfect. Absolutely perfect." _Perfect_ doesn't begin to cover it, but for all her wordiness, Caroline has been rendered near speechless.

There’s a certain depth of emotion here she feels she might never be able to properly express. Her whole life, she has been chasing after this _thing_. This feeling. It's hard to have a full grasp of what it is, harder still to explain it. It's something she used to have when she was a child, before her father left and her mother drowned herself in work and Caroline's perfect little life went off the rails. She used to feel... Special. Appreciated for who she was, for all the promise in her, all the potential. Whether she was having a good day or a bad one, happy or sad, she never felt unimportant, invisible or irrelevant. The certainty that she mattered was always there.

At some point, she doesn't know when exactly, that feeling went away, left a hole in its stead, and Caroline has been trying to fill it ever since. Years and years of frustrated expectations, bad decisions and accepting less than she deserves just to have _something_. Anything, however terrible or painful or shameful, was better than the emptiness, than the doubts.

Caroline thought the secret to feel special again was to be the best. Simple as that. It's what she put her mind to, dedicating herself entirely towards achieving perfection. The problem with her logic is that perfection is a rather subjective concept, and, more often than not, she wasn't the one to decide what it amounted to, which means she depended on other people's perceptions, craving approval and validation in everything she did. And that is nothing but a recipe for disappointment.

People called her neurotic and a control-freak, told her she had to _chill_. This girl in freshman year coined the term _Blondezilla_ after they had some disagreements about the theme for the decade dance. It was the last time the girl ever took part in the dance committee. It hurt, Caroline has to admit. She wasn't happy like that, being that person; but she didn't have a choice. She was who she had to be in order to reach her goal, to find that moment of perfect completion again. So she soldiered on, through criticism and disdain, sometimes through tears too.

Except growing up in a small town with Elena Gilbert and Bonnie Bennett as her closest friends, standing out was not exactly an easy feat. And she tried. She tried _so hard_. And that only made everything worse when she failed.

It didn't matter what she did, or said, or how she looked, Caroline would always feel inappropriate and wrong, lesser than her friends, who never had to make an effort to be perfect, to get noticed. She got used to being second or third best, to being the stand-in best friend for when Bonnie or Elena weren't available, to being the girl boys would only ever ask out if Elena and Bonnie were already taken. She was Miss Mystic Falls because Elena didn’t bother enough. She was squad captain because Elena never cared that much for cheerleading and Bonnie didn't have the time. She became Matt’s girlfriend because Elena dumped him. Bonnie asked her to go dress-hunting for prom because Elena flipped off her emotions turned into a royal bitch.

They should print ‘Caroline Forbes, Great but not Elena Gilbert’ right under her yearbook photo.

Resentment took root inside of Caroline like weed. It made her bitter and jealous, and not a very good friend either. It was terrible, but it was stronger than her.

.A good portion of Caroline’s adolescence was spent being kissed far too hard by drunk boys at parties to make herself feel better (spoiler alert: it never worked). She’s not an idiot; she knows she’s a pretty girl, that she’s popular and smart, but not even a considerable list of virtues saved her from the woes of low self-esteem and extreme insecurities. It ruined her, ate away on the inside.

In many ways, dying healed her.

Becoming a vampire was such an abrupt change that it forced Caroline to dig deep inside of herself to find courage, strength, things she never thought she had, if she wanted to survive and make it through that with her humanity intact. And in doing so, she ended up finding her best self. Caroline realized she never needed anyone else’s validation, that she wasn’t sad and pathetic like Damon claimed. She grew into someone more confident, empowered, able to believe in herself and in her own abilities, and that, in turn, made her a better person. Kinder, softer, more attentive to other people’s needs. Certain old habits die hard, sure; she's still a perfectionist and enjoys being in control a little too much, but so what? Nobody is perfect - not even Elena. The difference is what she aims for now is not approval, but happiness and peace of mind.

It’s ironic that it took dying for her to finally become the person she always meant to be, someone she can be proud of.

Caroline can safely say she's in a better place now. She loves being a vampire, she's a _rockstar_ at it. But even with all those changes and the personal growth, even strengthening her friendship bonds and getting closer to her mother and beating her own neurotic fears - there was still something missing. Some echo of that old pursuit for perfection that haunted her for such a long time, and that still resonates. Caroline was still waiting for someone who would see her the same way she learned to see herself. Not as a good enough distraction or a simple shoulder to lean on in times of need. Someone to love her with the same intensity, the same dedication, that she loves others.

She thought, if she tried just a little bit harder, pretended just a little bit better, covered up the bits of her monster that scared him, that person would be Matt. Then she thought if she gave it just a little bit more time, had a little bit more patience, gave him a little bit more space to find himself away from her, it would be Tyler.

She was wrong.

She gave everything she had to both of them, all her heart and all her soul, and it still wasn't enough. Matt dumped her because he didn't like her enough to handle her being a vampire. Tyler loved her, but not enough. He wouldn't drop his doomed liberation army to be with her even after he no longer answered to the sire bond.

And just as she was starting to pick up the pieces of her heart yet again, to accept that that it was not to be, that this isn't when she finds the feeling she's been seeking all these years... It happens.

In this beautiful, strange city, in a dream world, with the most ruthless and vicious villain Mystic Falls has ever seen, Caroline feels understood. Noticed. Appreciated for her truths, not for the sweet lies she's constantly putting out for the sake of others.

She finally feels special.

Klaus had no reason to do any of this. For once, it’s not his fault something terrible happened and she’ll miss her prom night because of it. He probably thinks it’s all stupid anyway, the whole high school experience; probably finds it’s _laughable_ that a vampire, with the whole of eternity ahead of her and the entire world just waiting to be explored, would care about something as fickle and small as that. He’s said as much, hasn't he? When he told her he expected her to come knocking on his door once the small town life proved too small indeed for her immortal existence.

Now here he is, all dressed up to be her date on a fake prom he went out of his way to make happen for no reason other than because it mattered to her.

Does he even know what he's tapped into here? Does he have any idea of the kind of complicated feelings he's awakened in her, the memories he's brought back to the surface? Does he understand how much this all means to her, beyond the fact that it's a milestone she'd been planning for years?

Of course he doesn't. How could he? As intuitive as Klaus is, he's not psychic. But that's the point, isn't it? She never had to spell it out. Never had to bawl her eyes out, kicking and screaming, for him to think it was important. His own feelings and opinions about it do not matter. He has put her first.

Out of all the people in the world, dead and undead, it had to be Klaus.

Caroline suddenly realizes she's been quiet for a long time, trying to make sense of everything of the whirlwind of emotions inside of her. When she focuses back on Klaus, he is watching her with anticipation, searching her face, and if she says it doesn't make her feel all sorts of things to see Klaus so hesitant, she'll be lying.

Caroline Forbes, making the Original hybrid _nervous_.

When a smile finally stretches across her lips, bright and joyful and absolutely sincere, it ignites a flame behind his eyes that lights up his whole face.

“I love it,” she says. “I can’t believe you did all this.”

“I’m a man of many faults, but just as many virtues,” he replies, his expression smoothing back into a familiar smirk.

He snaps his fingers and a man comes out of the shadows wearing a pretty white suit, carrying a tray with two flutes of champagne. “Thank you, Charles,” Klaus says, taking the flutes and offering one to Caroline.

“You look beautiful, ma’am,” Charles tells her, smiling before he turns around and goes back to where he came from.

Klaus arches his eyebrows. “Bold move.”

Caroline chuckles. “Who’s that?”

“Found him at a bar down the street and offered double what he makes in a week for him to be here a few hours keeping our glasses full, _not_ to make flirtatious remarks. We’ll need to have a word about that.”

"I don't know, I feel the compliment was a nice plus."

He sighs, gives her an eye roll. “Fine, fine. It’s your night. Have it your way. Now,” he raises his glass in the air. “A toast, to you. High school is finally over. Congratulations, Caroline.”

The smile spreading on her lips is so big she fears it might split her face in two. “Thank you," she says, clinking their flutes together.

“How do you like the dress?”

Caroline scrunches up her nose, looking down at her gown. “I hate it.”

Klaus’ brow furrows in confusion.

"I took me _three months_ to find a prom dress. I tried on hundreds of different ones, in four different cities, before I felt confident enough that I wasn't going to find anything better. And then you get me _this_ and the dress I picked now looks totally flat and that's kind of annoying." Klaus’ lips twist into an unrepentant self-satisfied grin. “Seriously. How the hell do you do that? Do you just happen to travel around with a chest full of amazing regal party dresses that you hand out to impress girls?”

“Did it work?”

“Hell, yes. This girl is thoroughly impressed.”

He shrugs. “I do happen to have a few exquisite rarities amongst my family’s collection, but this one was sheer luck. Seeing as I didn't have a lot of time, I had to pay someone to find a suitable one.”

"Well, I suppose if you have the right bank account, you really don't need three months to find anything."

"I would've preferred to do it the old fashioned way and get something with more character rather than trust someone's cold professionalism, but that does seem rather pointless when you look stunning in anything."

"I like the dress just fine, Klaus, you don't have to fish for compliments on your pick," Caroline says, aiming for cool nonchalance whilst trying not to blush.

"I wouldn't dream of it," he says, grinning widely. “Ah, almost forgot.” He raises a finger in the air for Caroline to wait while he goes to the table and retrieves something.

He returns with a tiara in his hand that is almost as beautiful as the dress. Caroline gasps, eyes wide and a hand splayed on her chest. Her inner ten-year-old princess is _swooning_.

“Charles informed me that this is quite an important part of the senior prom tradition. May I?” Caroline stares at him bewildered as he carefully places the tiara on her head. “There you go, love.”

Caroline touches the _heavy_ tiara on her head. It‘s nothing like the crappy crown she picked for her actual prom. They had a limited budget and the crowns for the prom king and queen were definitely not amongst Caroline’s priorities, especially because she knew she’d never be the one to win it. Call her petty, see if she cares.

“How ridiculous is it that it feels _amazing_ to have that tiara on my head right now?”

“It's not ridiculous at all. I’ll have you know that I’ve acquired a fair amount of nobility titles over the years, which more than qualifies me to bestow that crown upon you."

“Well,” she starts. “In that case, I think the moment calls for a speech. Can I get some more champagne?”

Klaus snaps his fingers again and Charles returns to fill their flutes, this time under very close scrutiny, which clearly leaves the boy uncomfortable and rushing to leave Klaus’ line of sight.

Caroline takes a generous sip from her drink and clears her throat once. She straightens her posture and puts her best Miss Mystic smile on. “It is my great honor to be crowned as your prom queen tonight. None of this amazing event would be possible without all of your support and dedication. We’ve all had a difficult year, but we stood together as a school body and tonight we’re here to celebrate that. I would like to share my crown with all of you, but since only one of us gets to wear it, I have a few people I’d like to thank personally. First of all, my mother, who’s my rock. My friends, who have stood by me through very hard times. I wouldn't be here today without them. And, of course, all of you who voted for me tonight. I love you, guys.”

Klaus narrows his eyes at her. "Why do I have a feeling this has been meticulously rehearsed before?"

“Shh, I’m done yet,” Caroline waves him to be quiet. “Lastly, I would like to say a special thanks to my stylist, who picked this amazing dress for me and made me feel like a true queen. I’m sure at least half the votes I got are down to his exquisite taste in women’s fashion.” She raises her glass in the air. “Now you can clap.”

Klaus erupts in merry-eyed laughter. “That was absolutely -“

“Amazing is the word you’re looking for,” Caroline offers. “I know. I did practice. Since I was 15. The last bit was all down to my great improv skills.”

“I was going to say remarkable. And so you know, I will graciously accept your gratitude for the dress.”

“Good. Because I meant it.”

Caroline chuckles, Klaus smiles brightly, his eyes crinkling at the corners and his dimples showing on his cheeks. He's an attractive gentleman under any circumstances, but she likes him best like this, she realizes. Light and unguarded, enjoying himself and showing a side of his sense of humor that isn't dark or twisted.

It's a part of him she'd only ever seen before once. Coincidentally or not, they were also on a date then. She wonders if this is Klaus being his cold, calculating self and doing exactly what he thinks she wants to see, or if it's the complete opposite. Him letting his guard down and allowing her a glimpse at the bits of himself he prefers to keep in the dark.

Caroline hopes it's the former.

She gives him a look that lasts a little too long and Klaus returns it, feels her cheeks begin to burn, but refuses to back down. Her eyes flit down to his lips, the now familiar desire to kiss him rising again. She feels herself lean closer, almost imperceptibly, and just as it seems like their little staring contest is heading towards an inevitable end, a song starts to play and the spell is broken.

Klaus hums, his smile turning bitter. “My friend Charles seems to possess no sense of timing whatsoever.”

She laughs nervously. “Well, in his defense, it is kind of lame to have a party with no music."

Klaus puts their glasses aside and offers a hand to her. “In that case, may I have this dance?”

"You may have all."

As Etta James’ voice blasts through the speakers, Klaus leads her to the middle of the courtyard and Caroline hopes he doesn't notice the hitch in her breath as he places a hand on the small of her back and pulls her close.

_At last my love has come along  
My lonely days are over._

It takes her a moment to relax and get comfortable in their slow swaying, and just as she does, Klaus decides to get bold. He spins her around in some pretty complicated moves, releasing her, then pulling her towards him again and then bending her back, their faces inching dangerously close for an excruciatingly long, heartstopping second. And then she's up again, one more spin and they're back where they started.

Caroline gapes at him, slightly breathless. She likes to think she's an accomplished dancer, but it takes a very confident and skilled lead to pull those moves, especially with a partner who did not see it coming.

"Wow," she speaks around a laugh. "You are _really_ good."

"You sound surprised," he says, arching his eyebrows at her. "We've danced before."

"Yes, but not like _this_. You were hiding your game."

"I didn't think you were ready for my game before."

"Fair enough. Professional dancer isn't exactly a competence one expects from a hybrid."

"It's certainly not a requirement, but it does add some flair, wouldn't you agree?"

Caroline shakes her head, fighting back a smile. "Show off." Klaus does have a highly inflated sense of his own abilities, which is usually just annoying. Rarely does it come off as charming as right now.

“Think of this as an upgrade,” he says, while spinning her one more time. “You could be dancing with awkward, uncoordinated teenagers with no sense of rhythm whatsoever. Instead, you have me.”

“I feel blessed already! Thank you, Silas," she sneers.

“I’m merely offering some perspective.”

“I could be dancing with Stefan. He’s not an awkward teenager.”

Klaus snorts derisively. “Please. I’ve had the displeasure of witnessing Stefan Salvatore’s ballroom skills. It’s perplexing. I'd recommend not pinning all your hopes on Stefan if you expect to find a decent dancing partner amongst your little friends. Rebekah liked him and even she felt embarrassed.”

“Hey, he’s my friend. Let’s not humiliate him.”

“I have no need to. He humiliates himself when forced onto a dance floor.”

Caroline rolls her eyes. “Ok, Mr. Dancing With the Stars. Where did you pick up all those moves, anyway? Were you Mr. Mystic Falls of the year 900 by any chance?”

“I’ve had great teachers. Picked up a few things over the centuries, here and there. London, Vienna, Florence -“

“No one likes a bragger, Klaus.”

“Simply stating the facts isn’t bragging,” he says, very matter-of-factly. “Besides, I’ve told you before, I can take you anywhere you want to go. We can go dancing in Versailles.”

Caroline laughs. It is such a ludicrous idea. Date night with Klaus in the Hall of Mirrors. It’s absurd, for sure, but not unpleasant or as preposterous as it sounded the first time he made the offer. Before, she would’ve just called him crazy and told him to leave her alone. Now, however... She feels dangerously inclined towards allowing her mind to wonder. And that is... Well. Something.

The song changes, and Caroline has to look away from him, from all the promise in his eyes and the excitement on the corner of his lips, because in spite of how alluring it all is, it’s also extremely dangerous.

 _Sweet dreams till sunbeams find you_  
Sweet dreams that leave all worries behind you  
But in your dreams, whatever they be  
Dream a little dream of me

Klaus comes with a hell of a lot of baggage. He's harmed everyone she knows direct or indirectly in varying degrees of unacceptability. It's severely frowned upon to not despise and/or hate his guts with a fire in Mystic Falls, so having an undeniable soft spot for him that she can't smother into nothingness is... Problematic, to say the least. Even now, there are all sorts of abort signs flashing in her mind, telling her to run while there's still time.

She doesn't think she can hold on to that sparkle of possibility that has come to life inside of her, but she also doesn't want to let go. Right now, all she wants to do is ignore the fact there is a real world out there where the stakes are different and dance with the handsome guy who threw her a dream party and made her a queen.

Caroline pulls him closer still, chest to chest, cheek to cheek. "Well," she whispers. "I don't really want to be anywhere else right now." And she means every word.

 

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

 

They go on for hours.

Caroline completely loses track of time. She knows it's irresponsible, because they have a parade to attend and lord knows when they'll get another chance to have all the witches in New Orleans out in the open again if they lose this window. She'll be pretty dang upset come tomorrow if they miss this opportunity. _Tomorrow_ being the key word.

Right now, she is having a _blast_.

In-between bouts of dancing, when they stop to have a drink or eat something, Caroline tries to remember the last time she had this much fun. It seems every time they try to have a party or a celebration of any kind in Mystic Falls, something horrible happens and someone ends up dead or severely injured or kidnapped and tortured. Granted, Klaus has been the mastermind behind some of those unspeakable acts more than once.

Maybe if he'd dedicated more of his time to showing off his dancing skills and enjoying himself, things would be different. Maybe she wouldn't get this terrible pang of guilt for crushing on him as hard as she is right now.

Klaus is as much of a snob about the food - which he sent back several times before deeming it _acceptable_ \- as he is about the music, protesting when Caroline tries to seize control of the playlist.

"I prepared an extraordinary tasteful and diverse musical selection for tonight. Are you sure you want to ruin it?"

"First, it's insulting to assume that my taste in music isn't as good as yours. And second, your musical selection, great though it may be, is kind of giving away your age, old man. You could use a bit of an update."

Klaus rolls his eyes at her, sipping from his champagne. "Let me hazard a guess. You are going to gift us with Ed Sheeran?"

"Wow! You know the name of an artist who was born less than 50 years ago. Color me surprised."

"I blame Rebekah for that atrocity."

"You do realize that we danced to Ed Sheeran at your mother's party, right?"

"I blame Rebekah for that, too. Although," he adds, with a mischievous little grin. "Should I be flattered that you remember the song that was playing on our very first dance together?"

Caroline turns her face away from him to hide the crimson on her cheeks. "Not at all. I just like really like Ed Sheeran."

"Shocking."

She picks a more modern upbeat playlist, the type that you don't really need another person to dance with, which is good, because Klaus obviously hates it. To his credit, he doesn't complain, just takes a seat in one of the chairs while Caroline entertains herself. Provided her glass remains full - and it does, because Charles is very efficient and should get a generous tip - she can certainly do it.

She is not drunk, not even tipsy, really, just lit up enough to tell herself that she is not showing off and being deliberately provocative with her dancing or pretend that she isn't seeing the predatory look in Klaus' eyes as he watches her and that the heat spreading through her body in waves has absolutely nothing to do with that.

Caroline loves her life. She loves the little forgotten corner of the world that is Mystic Falls, she loves her mother and, despite all the let downs, she also loves her friends. She _loves_ being a vampire, to be powerful and fearless and immortal. She even loves the hunger, the constant craving for blood, because when she gives in, the mad rush of adrenaline that courses through her is like nothing else she's ever experienced; and when she doesn't, just being able to control it, to beat her very own beast of prey nature, feels just as incredible. Caroline _loves_ being in control. And she misses all that, she really does. She wants to go back, for sure, at some point. But the truth is she hasn't felt this light in _ages_.

She's just content and at peace and _alive_ , which is the greatest irony of the century, considering she might be dying a very slow death right now. Caroline knows this is not happiness - it can't be, this world isn't even real - but it's certainly close enough. For the first time in a very, _very_ long time, she doesn't feel scared or worried or on the verge of despair. For all she knows, the world could be ending, she could be tiptoeing on the edge of the precipice, but she is not afraid. If she dies in the next five minutes, she'll die with a light heart and a freaking smile on her face. And that, life - and death - has taught her, is the best she can possibly can expect.

Klaus has made it really hard for her to remember she's supposed to be distressed and scared for her life right now.

It's only when another slow song starts that he finally joins her again. Shed of the worst of her inhibitions, Caroline wraps her arms around his neck and they fall back into the familiar rhythm of swaying slowly together.

 _And your heart's against my chest, your lips pressed in my neck_  
I'm falling for your eyes, but they don't know me yet  
And with a feeling I'll forget, I'm in love now

"Oh?" She arches her eyebrows at him. "I thought you couldn't stand Ed Sheeran?"

"Is that what this is?"

"You know _exactly_ what it is."

He rolls his eyes at her. "I'm making an exception for you."

"Should I feel honored?"

"Tremendously. You're the only person who's ever got me dancing to that lad's songs."

Caroline laughs. "Wow, I feel special already. Is that out thing, then?"

"God, I hope not."

She shakes her head. "Don't worry. Your secret is safe with me. As far as the world's concerned, you're too cool for modern pop music."

"As long as we've got that cleared."

"On a different subject." She narrows her eyes at him a little. "What's the catch?" Klaus looks at her like he can't quite grasp the question. "What's in all this for you?"

He shrugs. "I fancy a party just as much as the next person."

"Somehow I don't think prom dances are exactly your thing."

"The general issue with high school dances is the excessive amount of highschoolers, the lack of alcoholic distraction and the bad music. I've taken care so none of these things would be of concern tonight."

"So you did _all_ this expecting absolutely nothing in return?"

"What could I possibly expect in return, Caroline?" _Well_ , she thinks, but doesn't say anything. Her silence, however, is enough of an answer. "You wound me, love. Do you still think that little of me?"

"Honestly, no," Caroline says. "I've learned to expect anything from you over the years, but not _that_. You are... Quite the gentleman, strangely enough."

"Excuse me while I try not to feel insulted by that remark."

"It's not an insult," Caroline says, leaning into him a little as she speaks. "It's recognition. But then why else? I'm not complaining, but I can't figure out why you'd go through that much trouble."

Klaus pulls her slightly closer, their cheeks touching, the ghost of his breath warm on her skin. "Why is it that you never believe that someone would do something for you selflessly, just because they want to or because they can?"

Caroline laughs. The smart bastard, turning her own words against her... "Right," she says, pulling away a little to see the smug grin on his face. "Well played. I thought you were too drunk to remember anything I said last night."

"I remember everything you say, Caroline," he replies, in that unflinching way of his that makes her shaky around the knees.

"Then why?"

"I promised Sheriff Forbes that her daughter would have a prom dance, didn't I?"

"No," Caroline says, mildly. "Why did you _really_ do all this?"

"I'm at least partially at fault for you being here, missing out on the prom of your dreams."

"So? I wouldn't have blamed you."

"It matters to you, Caroline. You've had a smile on your face all night. And when I see you smile, I want to protect it. I want to _make_ you smile, and know that it's because of me. Why else would I do any of this? It's for you. It's all for you."

Caroline feels a shiver, somewhere deep down. Her heart skips, and then slams forward against her ribcage. She can feel herself falling into a trap like a moth that is drawn to a flame, mesmerized and dizzy. She knows she'll get burned, but the pull is too strong.

That shaking that begins with the erratic pounding of her heart, a strange mixture of awe and lust, and then radiates outwards, is _wrong, wrong, wrong_. But the voice of reason is drifting off, muted by the deafening sound of her heartbeat, _boom, boom, boom_.

The moment where one or both of them should look away comes and goes and neither one of them does, neither one of them moves. Somewhere in Caroline's head, the word 'inevitable' comes to life.

And then she slams her mouth against Klaus'.

It's filthy and messy and _oh so good_.

It feels like the culmination of something that's been building up inside their bodies for days. For _months_. A release. Caroline grips the back of Klaus' head possessively, her fingers tangling in his hair, pulling him closer still. His hands are scorching hot on her body, holding her so tightly it's as though he's afraid she's going to disappear if he lets go.

Klaus does a thing with his tongue that should be seriously outlawed and it fills every cell in her being with a visceral rush of _want_. It's embarrassing, honestly, because all he's doing is kiss her and Caroline is melting in his arms, moaning against his very soft, very dexterous lips, not even trying to preserve some modicum of her dignity. _Fuck dignity._ So long as he doesn't stop what he's doing, so long as he _never_ stops, she can live with the knowledge that she has no shame whatsoever.

She wants Klaus. It's as simple as that. She wants him in exactly the way you generally don't want someone who's killed people you know and threatened people you love. Years and years of antipathy and mass murder shouldn't be completely obliterated just because Klaus' mouth is not nearly as repellent as she would've guessed. But, in her defense, he's _really, really_ good with his mouth and she can't help but wonder what other wonders his tongue might conjure when in touch with other parts of her body.

At this point, she has not only accepted, but embraced her defeat. She might live to regret this, might never recover from being so completely pulled apart by him. But, right now, as Klaus catches her lower lip between his teeth and then sucks on it, Caroline is not even a little bit sorry.

Her hand slides down to the side of his face, caressing the rasp of beard there. She pulls away a little to regain her breath, leaving a trail of small, wet kisses on the corner of his mouth, his chin, jaw, and then down to his neck, worrying the skin right under his ear with her teeth. Klaus lets out a humming, shuddery breath, revealing that she's found a particularly sensitive spot, and Caroline stores the information for further investigation.

The look he gives her between his eyelashes sends a wave of heat down her underbelly and before she knows what she's doing, they're kissing again, only hungrier now, desperate for more contact, for more _everything_. They stumble their way across the patio until she knocks back against something. It's a table, she realizes, when Klaus puts his hands on the back of her thighs and pulls her up, helping her sit on it. She cages him between her legs, trying to wrap them around him and cursing the goddamn dress for having so many layers.

Her fingers are digging at his sides, trying to pull his shirt out of his trousers, desperate to feel more skin under her palms, while he bites her neck and she moans, loudly. In some distant corner of her mind, she wonders how weird it is that it gets her _more_ aroused to think that, had they been doing this in the real world, she'd have a deadly bite on her neck right now. She dismisses the thought pretty quick, both because there are _things_ happening right here that require her undivided attention and because - well, she does kind of have a fetish for hot hybrid sex, doesn't she?

He's halfway to unzipping her dress when they hear the sound of church bells chiming in the distance and freeze. They've been totally oblivious to the passing of time and whatever is happening outside the walls of the compound, completely forgot that they had something else to do tonight, something that suddenly feels much less relevant than getting Klaus out of his clothes.

It's midnight.

Klaus breaks away, lips swollen, eyelids at half-mast, his forehead pressed against Caroline's as they both try to recover their breaths and some form of coherence.

"Saved by the bell," he murmurs, his voice raspy and thick with wanton.

Caroline bites on her lower lip, swallowing back a few less than polite expletives, considering how fast they could... Well.

"Goddamnit," she whispers, and feels Klaus' warm breath against her mouth again when he chuckles. When he pulls her zipper all the way up again, Caroline lets out a weary sigh. So much for nothing.

"I believe we have a parade to attend," Klaus says, pulling away at last. Caroline feels the sudden absence of him as though a part of herself has been removed, her skin tingling in all the places he had been touching just a moment before. But he looks exactly like she feels: euphoric, exhilarated, stuck between being completely overwhelmed by what just happened and absolutely livid that they were forced to stop.

"Bonnie's grandmother better come through," she rumbles, jumping from the table and fixing her dress a little. "I think I should probably change into something less flashy."

"It's a wise idea."

Like a painter analyzing her own work, Caroline gives Klaus a thorough once over. Tousled hair, rosy lips, shirt all skewered. He looks gorgeously messed up, all clear evidence of their recent exploits. Obvious frustrations aside, she feels pretty good about her accomplishments.

Smiling triumphantly at him, she fixes the tiara on top of her head and says, "Let's go hunt some witches, then," before marching out of the compound.

A few minutes later, as she steps out of her perfect dress and takes off her prom queen crown, effectively ending what was the best time she's had in a while, Caroline realizes that, even though she's exhausted from so much dancing, a little high from all the champagne, frustrated and extremely confused, for the first time in months, she is not angry or bitter at all.

All in all, and in spite of everything, it's a nice change.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have LOTS OF FEELINGS about Caroline's internal monologue at the first part of the story. Don't know what you guys feel about it, but I'd love to hear your thoughts. 
> 
> Not only it says a lot about what I feel was a huge transformation she went through as a character in TVD (and I think she's probably the character that went through the most development and growth in the show), but it says a lot about how I feel about Klaroline in general. Why I like this pairing so much and why I think it was so hindering and altogether setback for her as character that they paired her up with Stefan instead. She was making PROGRESS and they chose to turn her back into a doormat. Caroline was awful at the beginning of TVD but she grew into someone strong and proud and kind and became my favorite character (Klaus notwithstanding), but that was never truly appreciated by the guys she hooked up with. They made her miserable. Stefan was great while they were friends, but once they became a thing he just SUCKED, which is understandable because HE WAS IN LOVE WITH SOMEONE ELSE. Jesus. 
> 
> So, yeah. That whole first bit is kind of major in terms of development in this story as well. It's Caroline figuring out stuff that I WANT TO BELIEVE IN MY HEART she figured out in TVD, but that was never explored because they sucked at exploring Caroline's side of the whole Klaus shenanigan, so we just have to assume, based on looks and smiles and dramatic pauses and a slight change in behavior, that it happened.
> 
> Also, if you absolutely hated that part, it's ok, I understand, and you can tell me, but be kind? It's important to me and I'm soft. Lol
> 
> Remember comments make fic writers happy! :)


	10. Ain't No Rest for the Wicked

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, that's it! This is officially the last of the reuploaded chapters, but I have feeling most of you had not seen this the first time around. In any case, starting next chapter, it'll be all new. :) It feels like it took me forever to get here, but I'm positive the slight changes I made and the rewriting some chapters went through helped make the story better. I hope you guys can enjoy the next few parts as well. We're past halfway mark now.
> 
> The response to the last chapter was amazing and I just want to say that I'm so happy for all your comments and messages. Thank you so much to everyone who has read this story, especially to those of you who dropped me your feedback. It's very much appreciated and live for it! So please, let me know your thoughts after this and how you feel about getting to the all new updates.
> 
> As always, I ask for your forgiveness for all the mistakes you will surely find, as the story hasn't been beta'ed.

Caroline is making a list.

Well, in reality, she is freaking out. Anticipation is driving her to the edge of a break down. She needs something to distract her mind with, but there is nothing except for the wait and the suspense. Hell, she would _kill_ to have something to clean right now. Scrubbing and rubbing and making ugly, dirty things shiny and orderly again has such a tranquilizing effect. But she's in the middle of the street, no bleach or water or even a broom in hand. So, in the absence of something practical and more productive, Caroline is compiling a list. 

The top 5 worst moments of her life.

She didn't think it would be so hard, but it turns out there's been quite a number of remarkable terrible occurrences in her short life, and dying is not even one of those. It makes her wonder how truly screwed up she is. Do mortal standards for mental health apply when you're a vampire, and if so, should she seek professional counseling? Is there even a thing such as professional counseling to non-strictly humans? There should be. Caroline doesn't think she's ever met a supernatural creature that was completely well-adjusted. There's a certain level of trauma that seems to walk hand in hand with becoming something like her. It can't be good to just jump from one tragedy to another the way she has for the past three years or so. She can't but feel that it might cause irreversible damage in the long run. It might turn her into... Well. Klaus. 

That's how it starts, isn't it? A bunch of fucked up stuff happens and you don't have time to assimilate or heal and obviously you haven't the first clue how to deal with any of that because you're a peasant from the X century and your whole family is just as damaged as you are and, before you notice, a thousand years have gone by and you've turned into a paranoid psychopath with trust issues. It all has to start somewhere. No one is born evil, unless you believe in the antichrist. Klaus must've been a ridiculously adorable baby once, with dimples and blond curls and big blue eyes that had no malice or anger in them. His father was a level A abusive asshole who mistreated his own child and his mother was a lunatic and you add that to all the bloodthirst and the killing and voilà. Behold the antichrist. That's how adorably dimpled babies become handsomely dimpled homicidal nut-jobs. Evil is built, not born. 

Who knows, maybe she's already well into her _Klaus-ification_ process. 

Caroline has always thought that becoming a vampire gave her perspective and made her a lot more reasonable and centered than she used to be. But maybe what it really did was change the parameters. As a human, she was on a path to thousands of dollars in prescription medication and therapy sessions; as a vampire, she's on a path to mass murder. Some perspective, huh?

There was a time, not that long ago, when her parents' divorce would've been number one on the list of worst moments of her life. Now it feels like such a non-issue. It wouldn't even hit top twenty. She wishes a bad divorce really was the worst of her problems. She wouldn't be trapped in this place, for starters, back in her fragile human form, feeling a panic attack brewing on the back of her head as she reminisces about horrible experiences. _That_ is definitely worse than a divorce. 

The point of this totally unhealthy exercise is to figure out how high this moment, right here, ranks on her list of all-time lows. It's hard to pick winners in the middle of so many atrocities, but some moments spring to mind. Like the day she thought Tyler was dying because Alaric drove a stake through Klaus' heart. She cried herself to sleep that night. And then Elena... That was one hell of fucked up a day. 

Her first victim. She can still recall the guy's face, his voice as he asked her if she was ok, right before she tore his throat to shreds with her teeth. But it's not the killing that she remembers the most, nor the violence of the act. It's the aftermath. Sitting by herself, the man's lifeless corpse behind her, the smell of his blood all over her and that hunger that wouldn't go away even after draining a grown man's body. She felt as though she'd fallen into a pitless dark, and would never stop falling. Her head was spinning and her senses were all over the place and all she knew was that she needed more. That's when it finally sank in that her life was over, that Caroline Forbes really did die in that hospital and what was brought back was still her, but it was something else too, something dangerous. Her body wasn't just hers anymore. 

There was a hungry monster inside of her, trying to claw its way out, and she'd have to spend the rest of eternity in a battle of wills in order to rein it in. She's gotten quite good at it, and it doesn't scare her anymore, but the memory of thinking that would be her life forever, of feeling like she wasn't strong enough to fight the monster, that it would consume her whole, still haunts her. And that poor man...

Damon. It's easy to let that one slide because Damon is one of them now. Well, not one of _hers_ , but a part of her group anyway, despite all her incessant protests and constant reminders that he is not to be trusted. Even her mother likes him, goddamnit, and it makes Caroline's skin crawl every time she talks about him as an ally, as a _friend_. She wouldn't, if she knew what he did to her daughter. Caroline never really had the courage to break it to her. It would hurt Liz so much to know all that was happening right under nose - right under her roof, sometimes. She'd blame herself for it and she'd probably try to kill Damon, which would not end up well. Nope. Not worth it. Caroline made it through all that and she came out stronger. It's over now. But when the memories started trickling back... She didn't just remember the things he did to her in a detached sort of way, like watching a movie. She remembered the fear. The shame. How broken he left her every time he told her she was worthless and pathetic and that he was just enjoying himself before he killed her.

God, she hates Damon.

As awful as all that was, though, it still doesn't top her list. How could anything ever top being tortured by her own father? The man she loved to bits, the one who'd cook her breakfast before school every morning and beam all proud at her ballet recitals - her sweet, loving father, telling her that she was an abomination and should not be allowed to live. He hated her so much he was ok with sitting back to watch her burn, would've probably been ok with finishing the job with his own two hands if it came down to it. She was crying and begging and looking right into his eyes to show him she was still his girl, still his Caroline, but she found nothing but contempt there, nothing but revulsion. To him, the monster was all she was. 

A solid number one, definitely.

Waking up in this place probably deserves an honorable mention. So does thinking Klaus was going to dump her on the side of the road. But this right here... It has a nastiness all of its own. There's the quietness, the unrest, the helplessness. There's the not knowing what's going to happen. There's everything that's at stake. There's the very likely possibility that she'll never go home again. It's the perfect combo of doom. Everything Caroline abhors and fears the most, coming together to bring her apart. 

Oh, yes. Right now does make her Top 5. And there's room for development yet. The night is still young. Who knows, it could still get worse.

It's so _quiet_. At the Quarter, everything was uproar. All the streets around their B&B were packed, the parts where the parade was happening nearly impossible to navigate. But here it's... Deserted. And silent. There's not a single soul around. All the lights are out in the buildings, all the stores are closed. It's driving her insane. The tension is so thick she wouldn't even need a knife to cut through it.

The only reason she hasn't started chattering nonsense to break the ice yet is because... She doesn't think it'll help much. Klaus is in pretty bad shape. He's trying to hide it, doing his best to disguise it, but she noticed the worry scribbled all over his face, the white-knuckled grip around the wheels as they drove here. He's pretty strong-willed, she'll give him that. His pain threshold is commendable. Klaus fancies himself as some master of the poker faces, but Caroline has picked up on some of his tells. He'll deny it if she asks, probably dismiss her without much courtesy, but she knows he's in agony, getting weaker by the minute. 

Caroline wants to _scream_ at him. What the hell was he thinking? Klaus knew he was in no condition to exert himself and still he spent the whole day planning a party and the whole night dancing with her, acting like he was fine, like it wasn't taking a toll on him. The idiot. She should've known he couldn't do it. Should've stopped him. Instead, she went all wide-eyed at the music and the flowers and that ridiculous gown and got so easily carried away. And to think they almost... He could've dropped dead in the middle of _it_. _Jesus_. 

Now _that_ would've gone straight to the top of her list.

The second she slipped out of her fairytale dress and into a pair of jeans and a t-shirt, it was like a veil was lifted and reality resumed into focus. That fire that had been burning inside of her just a moment before went out, leaving her cold. Her stomach tied in knots the second they set foot outside the B&B and into the buzzing streets of the French Quarter.

"Holy shit," Caroline muttered as they made their way to Bourbon Street, the main route of the parade to which they were clearly late. She felt her stomach drop, all the hope draining away at once. "This is insane. How are we supposed to find _one_ person in this place? It's like a needle in a haystack. We're never going to find her."

Klaus took her hand, gave it a gentle squeeze, either trying to be encouraging or to pull her back from the edge of despair, but his voice sounded cold as he said, "You better, love." His perpetual scowl was already back in place. "I don't fancy having to go through all the witches here tonight to find the real ones amongst the imposters. It'll take a time we don't have." 

He didn't sound alarmed as he said it, but Caroline could hear the implications behind his words. They were running out of time because _he_ was running out of time. The rosy lips she'd been kissing moments before were pale, the shadows under his eyes more pronounced than ever. And it was down to her to find Sheila. By the time Klaus started terrorizing Mystic Falls, Bonnie's grams was long gone. He had no idea what she looked like.

Caroline shut her eyes, swallowed past the lump in her throat and braced herself for the seemingly impossible task ahead.

The whole time they were there, since the moment she found him plotting murder outside her school, Klaus had been the one to call the shots. Caroline wasn't always comfortable with the way he handles things - to say the least -, adapted a few things here and there to better suit her needs - _their_ needs, really, even though Klaus would never admit it - but mostly she just followed. It was imperfect, but it worked. There were disputes, disagreements, bumps on the road, but they made it to where they had to be. She would still be thinking she'd gone mad if it wasn't for him. Now it was her turn to take control. 

Normally, that would be right up her alley. In control, at the helm of the ship, was her comfort zone. Caroline Forbes doesn't shy away from a fight, doesn't run away screaming when things turn sour. She takes it on the chin and comes out throwing punches. Only this time there was no room for failure. Not even the slightest bit of hesitation. She couldn't get this wrong, couldn't miss this chance. Everyone's lives depended on her. She could _not_ disappoint.

So no pressure, then.

She kept her eyes trained on the parade, going from face to face, trying to distinguish every single person who passed them by. It was difficult not only because there were way too many _witches_ in the festivity, but because Klaus was clearly one drunk tourist accidentally bumping into him away from committing murder with his bare, human hands. It was hard to concentrate, but she was doing her best given the circumstances.

An hour went by, the parade was mostly over, the street was starting to unclutter and empty as the people moved on to follow the party, and still no sign of Sheila. Caroline was at the end of her wits, Klaus' mood rapidly deteriorating beside her, when she finally spotted a small company coming at the end of the fanfare. They kept a certain distance from the far more colorful and agitated group ahead, wore regular clothes rather than flashy costumes, all in dark, sober colors. It was easy to miss them with all the distraction around, most people didn't even notice or, if they did, didn't care. It was almost like they weren't part of the parade, just some random people marching down the street. Except they were holding candles and burning herbs, chanting something to themselves that was impossible to understand in amidst all the noise. But the second she laid eyes on them, Caroline knew they were the real thing. Maybe even the only real thing they had seen all night. They were witches.

And there, in the middle of the group, was Sheila Bennett.

Caroline gasped, grabbing Klaus' arm. "That's her," she said, pointing a shaky finger. "That's Sheila."

Klaus didn't wait to decide on a plan of action, just pushed through the people standing next to them and dashed towards the woman like a bullet, causing the whole group to halt as he planted himself in front of them, blocking their way. "Hello, my lovelies," he said, not bothering to turn on the charm or disguise the irritability on his voice. "I'm afraid your little _fete_ will have to be cut short."

"Who are you?" one of the witches, a large-built man who looked like he could crack Klaus' skull with his hands, asked.

"I'm -"

"Someone in desperate need of help!" Caroline intervened, placing herself between the hybrid and the witches. It was clear that, if allowed to do things his way, Klaus was going to ruin their chances of garnering sympathy. "I'm sorry," she continued. "My friend here is not feeling very well."

"Caroline?" Sheila cut through the group and came towards her, a confused crease between her eyebrows. "Caroline Forbes?"

Caroline huffed out a breath that was half a laugh. "Hi, Miss Sheila. You remember me."

"Of course I remember you. What are you doing here?"

"We're in need of some assistance in the hocus pocus department," Klaus spoke from behind her.

"Shut up," Caroline hissed, glaring at him from over her shoulder. "I'm sorry about my friend. He was raised by wolves, has no social skills whatsoever, but he means well." Caroline almost rolled her eyes at her own lie. "We came from Mystic Falls. To find you. I'm sorry we cut in, but it's kind of urgent. I'm afraid we don't have a lot of time and... We're in trouble, and we need your help." And then, as an afterthought, she added, "Please."

Sheila studied Caroline for a moment, clearly suspicious. "Is Bonnie here too?"

"No. It's just me. Bonnie wouldn't... She wouldn't understand, the kind of help I need."

The witch went quiet, her eyes going from Caroline to Klaus - and visibly becoming much sharper and icy as they set on him. Caroline's heart pounded manically in her chest as she waited. She wasn't beyond begging if she had to. "Very well," the woman finally replied. "I'll see what I can do for _you_ ," she said, emphasizing the last word with a pointed look towards Caroline. "But I can't chat now. We need to finish this."

"Well, that's not gonna do. We can't -"

"Klaus, _shut up_ ," Caroline cut him off. "It's ok, Miss Sheila. We understand. I'm sorry again that we interrupted. We can wait. But I'm afraid we really don't have much time."

"I own a voodoo shop in Algiers," she said, giving them the address. "Go there and wait for me. I'll come meet you when we're done. Now, if you'll excuse us." 

Caroline stepped out of the way, pulling Klaus along with her and mouthing an apology to the witches as they shot dagger-filled glares towards them before picking up on their chanting again.

Before Klaus could start protesting, Caroline dragged him back to the car. He grumbled all the way there, but didn't try to stop her. Algiers was just across the Mississippi, opposite the Quarter, so not a long ride at all. The address Sheila gave them checked out, with a voodoo shop exactly where she said it would be. Except it looked like a ghost town there. Apparently the entire population of Algiers had crossed the river for the parade. 

That was too hours ago.

Finding Sheila gave Caroline a kind of agonizing hope, but fear has started to crack through her again. Fear that Sheila is not going to show, fear of dying, of what could happen next, of nothing happening. Even if they do get out, if Sheila has a way of breaking the illusion or whatever this is, what then? Silas is still out there. He still wants Bonnie. All hell might still break lose. Tyler's still gone. Elena still has her humanity off. Getting out won't be the end of her problems. Sure enough there'll be a new one just waiting around the corner the second this one ends. This insane week trapped in an insane world will just be yet another item on her already extensive list of misfortunes. Something else she'll dismiss because she doesn't know how to even begin to process it.

How much more can she take before she hits the breaking point?

How much did Klaus take before he broke?

"I'm doing everything wrong," she blurts out all of sudden, so lost in her own thoughts she doesn't even realize she's talking outloud.

"What?" Klaus asks. 

"I'm not as well-adjusted as everyone thinks I am," she continues, rationalizing with herself rather than offering an explanation to Klaus' confusion. "None of us are."

"What are you talking about?"

"I'm talking about..." She turns, finally meeting his eyes. "Am I turning into you? Is this how it starts? In 500-years’ time, am I going to be you? Or Rebekah? Or _Kol_? God, I would hate to be Kol. Is this the natural course of a vampire's life, or is there a way to avoid it? Do you even know of anyone who's lived to be almost as old as you and isn't like... You? Because I'm thinking really hard here, but I can't... Katherine is awful. I suppose that Rose woman was all right. But she got friendly with Damon, so there had to be something wrong with her. Then there's your _whole family_."

"Caroline."

"What?" 

"You're not making any sense."

"I've been through a lot of crap. _A lot_. I'm a vampire, I should feel indestructible, and yet... I've had more close encounters with death since I turned than in my whole life before that. Every day there's something new trying to kill me, or someone close to me. Life feels so... Fragile. The world is _always_ ending. There's never a time when things are just... Fine. It's never fine. _I'm_ never fine. I'm good at pretending that I am, and I'm _damn_ good at being a vampire, so everyone always thinks I'm ok. Good, reliable, _stable_ Caroline. Did you know Elena thought I was _too_ good to teach her when she turned? She refused my help because I was _too_ good. Does it ever occur to anyone that maybe I'm not? That maybe I don't _want_ to be that person all the time? I never get to just sulk and be depressed and throw a tantrum because there's always something else happening. Someone else who needs saving. Some greater evil that has to be defeated - no offense." Klaus arches his eyebrows at her. "Hey, I said no offense. And anyway, what does all that amount to? How does it end? _Does it_ end? Cause it just keeps coming and coming, and it never stops. It's like it's part of the job. Is it?"

"What?"

"Part of the job. Does it come with being who we are, this constant struggle just to stay alive and wholesome?"

"There's no _we_. We're not the same."

"Of course not. I never asked for any of this, whereas you live off this stuff. It's like you want to end the world yourself. You make enemies, you pick fights, you get yourself into wars that are not yours just for the kicks. It keeps you occupied, I suppose. When you live as long as you have, what do you live for? But I don't want to be like that. I can't keep doing this forever. So I'm wondering... Do I have a choice? Or am I destined to become you?"

She fixes him with a hard, unflinching stare, urging him to answer her question. If anyone should know the answer, it's him, right? But Klaus just studies her with his eyebrows furrowed, like he's trying to determine whether she's having a mental breakdown or a stroke.

"Is that a new and very confounding way of insulting me?" he asks after a moment.

Caroline sighs. "I'm not insulting you. I'm venting. I never get to do that, because there is no time. I stop to vent, someone dies, or _I_ die, or _everyone_ dies. There's never time for me to just _feel_ the things that I feel. I just want to be allowed a second to feel bad and depressed and to cry myself to sleep because life sucks and maybe it's not the worst life and maybe some people have it worse, but sometimes it really, _really_ sucks to be me - like right now. Right now _Sucks_ , with a capital S. And I should be allowed to feel sorry for myself, too. I can't process my own life. I've been through a lot of crap, and it's all still in here, in my system. I'm collecting disappointments and bitterness and at some point this tiny little place where I'm keeping everything contained is going to explode and I don't even want to think about what happens then. I just want _someone_ to care enough to stop everything and ask me if I'm ok. I know the world is ending, I know everything is awful, but hey, Caroline, how are you holding up? And I want to be able to say that I'm falling part and not have to put on a freaking smile on my face and go act as bait because that's all everyone ever needs me for."

"Caroline," Klaus says, gently, making her realize that, in the middle of her rant, her voice had escalated to a near shout.

"What?" she snaps.

"Are you ok?"

His comment dredges up a laugh with an element of a sob from her, but when she finally looks back at him, she finds no hint of irony there. She thought he was mocking her emotional outburst, thinking her silly and inappropriate and at her wits end. And maybe she is, maybe she's finally going crazy, but it is taking every ounce of fiber in her body not to bend under the strain here, she just had to _vent_. And that's the thing she keeps forgetting about Klaus - he actually listens to her. For all his flaws, he does something that no one else seems to do with as much ease - he takes her seriously and he pays attention.

"No, I'm not," she replies, almost grateful to be finally saying it. "I'm not as well-adjusted as everyone thinks I am."

"Well-adjusted is overrated," he says, a calm half-smile gracing his lips. "For what is worth, I think you do a fabulous job as bait."

Caroline lets out a bark of laughter. "Recognition, at last!"

"I give credit where it’s due."

"It was about time someone did."

"You're stronger than you think, Caroline," Klaus speaks after a spell. "It's a wonder to me why you seem to have such a slanted notion of your own worth, but if I were to hazard a guess, I'd say it's probably because you've been underestimated most of your life. The blond cheerleader," he drawls it out. Caroline rolls her eyes at the teasing smile on his face, but doesn't retort. He's not wrong, really. "It's a cliché, and an easy one to fulfill. But that's not who you are, so it bothers you. People might look at you and think they have you all figured out, but you've got all these layers, shockingly surprising ones even."

"Oh?" she asks, her eyebrows arched to her hairline in inquiry.

"I mean it as a compliment, love. You're fiercely loyal, so you do whatever your friends expect of you without question, always trying to please them. You're dependable, and I'm sure that's all fine, but what you need to understand is, sometimes, in order to be respected, you have to show some teeth."

"You don't have a lot of friends, do you?" she asks, mockingly. 

Klaus just ploughs on. "You're only starting to learn your strength, to fully embrace your nature, but still you hold back, afraid of testing your limits and overstepping, or wandering too far off into unknown territory. Afraid of change. You can't stop change, Caroline. You're in constant metamorphosis. The more you fear it, the more it dominates you. I understand, it can be daunting. The idea of immortality is a difficult one to grasp, especially in the beginning. But what you have to understand is that you're no longer bound by human standards. If you want something, you can just take it. Stake your claim. Don't accept less than what you deserve. And if you have to, draw some blood. It works like a charm."

Caroline is so astonished that for a while she doesn't know what to do, what to say. Klaus meant what he said, simply, easily. This terrible, evil man always seems to see right through her, straight into her soul, to read her like she's an open book. And the thing is - she likes the person he sees, the person he describes time and time again. It's the very best version of herself, the one she strives so hard to be and thinks no one notices. Well, someone does. In his eyes, she isn't just a sidekick. She's more. 

She gets an ember of warmth in her gut, feels an impossible surge of affection for the hybrid. It's a good thing they're sitting at a certain distance from one another, she thinks. Otherwise she'd really kiss him right now.

"I can't decide if what you said is really nice or an advice on... murdering my friends?" she mocks, breaking the seriousness of the moment and rubbing her eyes with the back of her hands.

"Well, if you ask me, they had it coming."

The moral thing to do here would probably be to stand up for her friends, but, instead, Caroline finds herself laughing. Really laughing. And then she realizes all that fear and uncertainty she had just a moment before has dissipated. Klaus was talking her down from what was, in all honesty, an irrational level of distress, singular though her situation may be. 

She's about to say something back when they hear a car approaching. They exchange a look, Klaus going all serious all of a sudden. When the car parks right across the street, Caroline's heart starts pounding outside her chest again. "It's her," she says.

Klaus is up on his feet in a second and Caroline follows. 

"Klaus," she says, turning to him and forcing him to meet her eyes. "Let me do this, ok? Let me talk to her."

"Caroline -"

"No. I mean it. She's known me since I was a baby. If anyone has an upper hand in trying to convince her to help us it's me. You're just going to make her mad. This is not the time to draw blood and show teeth, so let me do this. Ok?"

He huffs out in annoyance, biting back a few replies that would probably not make Caroline very happy. "Fine," he agrees. "But if she doesn't -"

Caroline lifts a finger in front of his face, making him stop. "You want me to demand the things that I want? Right now, I demand that you play nice and let me do the talking." Klaus' face tells her that he's already regretting all the empowering pep-talk of earlier. Too bad. They have no more time to argue, though. As she turns, Sheila is right there, standing in front of her with that grim, poker face of hers that is both impossible to read and also incredibly intimidating.

"Hi, Miss Sheila," she says with as much mirth as she can muster, which is understandably not a lot.

The witch's eyes go from Caroline to Klaus, resting on him for a little longer, calculating. "Don't you look bright?"

Caroline senses the dangerous smirk on Klaus' voice without having to look at him. "This is what I look like when I'm kept waiting. But it's nothing compared to what I look like when I don't get what I want."

She elbows him in the ribs, feeling only mildly guilty for assaulting a man who's clearly not at the top of his game. She literally _just_ told him to keep it cool. 

Sheila's expression shifts almost imperceptibly. It's stern, but remarkably level. "If you two follow me inside so we can get this over with."

Their survival hinges entirely on her ability to pull this off. The uncertainty still sets quakes in her stomach, and she is far from what she'd consider _ready_. She's tired, sick of all this and maybe a little bit hungry, but they have a clock on this thing and so it needs to be done.

Before she goes in, though, Caroline holds Klaus' arm and pulls him back. "I swear to God, Klaus, if you don't hold your tongue, that elbow will be the least of your problems."

And then she follows Sheila into the store.

 

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

 

Caroline finally gets a better look at the store as Sheila turns on the lights inside. She'd never been to a voodoo shop before, wasn't even aware that such things existed. Clearly there's a gap in Mystic Falls' witchcraft retail market. It just goes to show how little she knows about the supernatural world.

There's so much stuff in there she doesn't even know where to look. And it doesn't seem like it's made for the tourists. For starters, it's in Algiers, not the Quarter. Sure, a disbeliever might walk in there thinking it's all for show, but if you just look closely to all those interesting, scary, disgusting things stacked on shelves and hanging from the ceiling and piled up all around - it's the real deal. Bonnie would go _nuts_ if she saw it.

She wonders if this is the type of stuff she'd find in real New Orleans. Judging by the totally unimpressed and uninterested way Klaus glances flittingly at his surroundings, the answer is probably yes.

"Well?" Sheila asks. "Wanna tell me what this is all about?"

Straight to it, then.

"Right. Well. Here's the thing..." Caroline rubs her hands together, fidgeting a little. It would've probably been smart to use some of the time she spent freaking out as they waited outside to think this through. "It's... There's been a... It's a little..." she stutters, unable to find the right angle to explain the situation. 

"Oh, bloody hell," Klaus grumbles. "We've been trapped in this place by a psychic vampire and we need you to perform a spell so we can get back to our lives. It's very simple, love."

Caroline sighs. "That's the short version."

"We don't have time for longer versions," Klaus adds.

"What do you mean, trapped in this place?"

"That's the complicated part. We're kind of... Not from here," Caroline explains. "Well, technically, we are. Just not _here_ , here. We think... Uhm... Well, we think this world is an illusion. A dream manipulation, as we call it. We're vampires."

"I'm not a vampire."

"Right, his royal majesty here is a superior creature," she snaps, shooting him an annoyed glare. "Point is, we're both supernatural beings being kept hostage by another supernatural being who's very old and very psychic. He can make us see things and people that aren't really there and we think this is what, well... _This_ is. Except in this world we have no power whatsoever. We're humans. Which means there's very little we can do to help ourselves out of this pickle."

"You think I'm an illusion?" Sheila asks.

Caroline scrunches up her nose a little. "That sounds awful when you put it that way."

"If I'm not real, how would I be able to help you break this dream manipulation you speak of?"

Caroline opens her mouth to reply and then realizes she doesn't really know the answer to that. Not in any practical way. She has a vague grasp of the idea of what needs to happen, but not the mechanics of it. Defeated, she turns to Klaus, who cocks her a smug eyebrow that says _Oh, so now you want me to talk?_. "Please?" 

"There's always a loophole," he starts. "I can't say for sure what's going on, but I do know there are glitches in the world-building, which means there must be ways to pick at the seams and break it from within. But if my assumptions are correct, and they usually are, we've been put in a very deep slumber. The idea is similar to when you're asleep and having a regular dream. We need something to jump-start us back into wakefulness by making our brains understand that this is not real. That's where you come in, sweetheart."

"But if I'm not real, then so isn't my power. Aren't you contradicting yourself?"

"Do I need to explain what a placebo effect is to you?"

"Oh, God," Caroline mutters around a sigh. He was going so well... 

"I apologize, _superior_ creature, if I'm interested in understanding the details of this theory. After all, if I got this correctly, I'm the only one with any actual power here, am I not?" Sheila says, a sardonic smile making her face look more dangerous than Caroline remembers her ever looking before. "If I may ask... How can you be so sure that this reality is the fake one? Have you considered that perhaps the dream is that other place with vampires and... other more overestimated creatures?"

_That's a very good question_ , Caroline thinks. And one she has posed herself several times over the course of the last few days. The answer is they don't know. This world certainly looks and feels real enough. Sheila, standing right in front of her, is very much flesh and bones. The only thing that keeps Caroline firmly believing that they're dreaming and in need of escape is that the alternative is that everything she knows, all the memories in her head, aren't real and they've both gone completely mad.

"Superior creatures aren't easily fooled," Klaus replies, a venomous tone in his voice, like he's taken serious offense by Sheila's very fair question. "Not by mediocre manipulations and not by mediocre magic either."

_Here we go._

Sheila considers Klaus for a long time, her expression completely inscrutable. For a moment Caroline thinks she's going to tell them to leave her shop and never come back, but then she says, "If everything you say is true... Then I'm thinking what you're asking is for me to tap into some dark magic. I'm not sure the spirits will allow me to interfere."

Caroline feels Klaus bristling next to her, senses the rage coming like a tidal wave. There's a sharp intake of breath, his face twisting into such a grimace, with bared upper teeth and a vein on his neck popping like it's about to rupture, that he's either going to bite Sheila or have a heart attack. 

"Damn you and you bloody spirits!" he snaps. "You're going to do that spell if it's the last thing you do or I promise you will not live long enough to regret it!"

"Klaus!" Caroline exclaims, somewhere between terrified and incredulous. He seemed calm just a moment before, now there's bright, red fury burning behind his eyes. Maybe she put way too much trust in his ability to keep a lid on his temper and act sensibly. 

Groaning, he turns around and stomps out of the store, slamming the door shut on his way out. 

"I... I have no idea what just happened," Caroline mumbles, staring slack-jawed at the door for a second too long. But then she realizes - she knows exactly what just happened. It was just Klaus being Klaus. She isn't the only one on edge here.

"Somehow I don't feel at all inclined to help that man," Sheila says, full of disdain. "That looks like no superior creature to me."

"I'm so sorry, Miss Sheila. He's... Under a lot of stress. We both are."

"Oh, that is not stress, child. That's something else. Violence in its purest state. You would do well to stay away from him."

Caroline opens her mouth to answer, but nothing comes out. What is she going to say? That it's a misunderstanding? That he is really a fine gentleman? Violence in its purest state pretty much defines Klaus about 80% of the time. The fact Caroline gets exclusive sneak-peeks into parts of him that stay mostly hidden from public view does not mean he is, in fact, a good man at heart. There's light in the middle of all the darkness, she's sure of it, but Klaus certainly tries very hard to quench it any opportunity he gets. It's like he's incapable of turning away from cruelty and violent outbursts whenever there's a chance to flaunt it, always choosing the most bellicose and antagonistic way out of things. He hates being human so much that, instead of becoming less feral, he gets more, if that's even possible.

In the abstract, Klaus is passionate and fiery. But in reality he's just extremely exhausting.

"I know it's impossible to believe it, even I doubt it myself, most of the time, but... There's hope for him yet. You're gonna have to take my word for it, but... You don't want him dead. Trust me. A lot of people depend on him being alive and right now... I'm not sure how much more time he has left. I'm begging you, Miss Sheila. We have run out of ideas. _Please_ , help us. Anything will do. We got nothing."

Sheila's stern expression seems to soften a little. "I'll see what I can find out. For _you_ , Caroline."

"Thank you, miss Sheila! Thank you so much!" 

"But it's late now. You should go back to where you're staying. If he really is that debilitated, he should rest. Write down your phone here." She pushes a little stack of paper towards Caroline. "I will get in touch with you as soon as I have information."

"Yes, of course," Caroline nods, scribbling down her name, phone number and the name of the B&B, just in case. "I don't wanna sound like a brat, but we really are on a race against the clock here. I know you're doing us a favor and _some_ of us weren't even nice asking for it, but... We need this fast."

"I'll do my best."

"Thank you, Miss Sheila. Call me any time, doesn't matter if it's in twenty minutes. The sooner the better. I'll be here in a second. Or wherever you want me. I'll go anywhere, do anything, I'll -"

"Caroline," Sheila interrupts her. "Go home, child."

"Oh. Ok. I'll... See you. Soon, hopefully. Thanks again. And have a very good night."

Caroline waves awkwardly at her and almost knocks back into one of the racks full of strange objects and even stranger ingredients in jars before finally stepping out of the voodoo shop.

 

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

 

She needs a moment to pull herself together. She didn't feel all that nervous inside, barely noticed how stuffy the air was, until she stepped outside and felt a sting in her chest as her lungs filled with the cold air of New Orleans' night. She gets dizzy as the heat of it strikes her full force.

That was Bonnie's very dead grandmother in there. The woman who used to bake her cookies when she was a kid, in whose backyard she spent epic summer nights sleeping in improvised tents and melting marshmallows in bonfires that, now that she thinks about it, were probably kept going for suspiciously long periods of time by magic. The woman who's been dead for years, and who now holds every hope Caroline has of making it out of this place alive. 

She should feel reassured by the fact that they've found Sheila and that she is a real witch, that there are people with unnatural powers in this world too. But the thought reassures nothing, really. Her future and that of a lot of people who means a great deal to her lie in the hands of an undead, imaginary witch who has known Klaus for a minute and already despises him.

Caroline really needs a second here.

And where the hell did Klaus go?

He's not standing right outside the store and not anywhere on the sidewalk either. For a second she thinks he finally snapped and left her behind, but when she looks for the car, parked a little further ahead on the street, she finds him, leaning against the hood, his back turned to her.

Caroline gets immediately incensed.

"What the hell is wrong with you?!" she demands as she marches towards him with purposeful steps. "Is your head really that far up your ass that you can't _listen_ to anything anyone says? What do you think you were doing in there? Screaming at her, _threatening_ to kill her! How exactly was that supposed to help us? We have nothing, Klaus! _Nothing_! No clues, no powers, not a single thing to offer her in return for her help, which we very much _need_. She has no reason to do us any favors out of the goodness of her heart, and you baring your teeth at her like you still have fangs is not - _Klaus_! I am talking to you!" 

Normally, she would appreciate the silence as she gives him a lecture, but his complete lack of response is just rubbing her as indifference. "Seriously? Giving me the silent treatment now? What are you, five?"

Still nothing. Caroline huffs out in annoyance. "Hey! Don't ignore me when I'm talking to you!" She puts both hands on his shoulders and forces him to turn around to face her. The second she touches him, though, she knows there's something wrong.

Klaus' knees seem to give in under his weight and he would've tumbled straight to the ground if she hadn't caught him, pushing him back up against the car to keep him steady. He's breathing hard through his nose, his face scrunched up into a pained grimace.

"Klaus?" Her voice comes out completely devoid of the fire it had just a minute before, and more than a little shaky around the edges. "What's wrong?"

"I told you, I'm out of time," he grits out.

"What? No. No, you're not. Sheila's working on it, you can't -"

" _Caroline_ ," he cuts her off. "We need to get back to the hotel, I can't -" He stops, swallows, sucks the air in through his nose. "I can't stay up much longer."

"Ok. All right. I can take us. It's ok. You're gonna be fine," she says, more to herself than to him. 

She helps him into the passenger seat, leaning over to put on the seat belt. It feels like such an idiotic detail when clearly there are things both far worse and more likely to happen to Klaus than a car crash. She can't stop whatever it is that's getting to him now, but the seat belt she can do. She can make sure he won't go flying out the windshield or bump his head against the dashboard. There isn't much she can control in this goddamn place, but the little there is, she will. She will keep him safe as best as she can.

Caroline shuts the door and rushes around the car to climb into the driver's seat. "You have to stay awake in case I need directions." She's pretty sure she knows the way, but he needs an incentive not to fall asleep and slip into that dark place he mentioned. "Just keep your eyes open and tell me if I take a wrong turn. Ok? Klaus?"

He's gone quiet again, and when she turns to him for confirmation that he's heard what she said, she finds him soundly asleep. 

"No, no, no," Caroline mutters. "You can't do this to me, Klaus, wake up. _Wake up_!" He's breathing normally and his heartbeat feels strong, but no amount of screaming or shaking seems to get him out of his slumber. He's gone. Silas can't kill him unless he can get his hands on the white oak, but even Klaus seemed to think that there were other ways he could be harmed. 

Caroline swallows down a scream of frustration, slamming her hands against the wheels instead. They are so close. _So close._

She shuts her eyes and counts in her head until she calms down again. She needs to think. Klaus kept saying they were running out of time, running out of time... But what the hell does that even mean? Is he not waking up this time? Is he in a coma? 

She turns to him again. He looks peaceful. Tired, maybe, but relaxed. "You can't desert me now," she says. "We're in this together, remember? I have your back and you have mine. You can't have my back if you're in a coma, so you better wake up." She finds his hand, intertwines her fingers with his and gives it a firm squeeze, hoping that, wherever he goes when he passes out, he can still hear her. "I can't do this without you, Klaus. So don't you dare leave me here."

This twist of worry cramping up her stomach is awfully familiar to Caroline, she's felt it countless times in the last few years, whenever one of her friends or her mother found themselves in mortal danger. She never thought there would come a day when she'd feel it because of Klaus. Her head spins a little as she tries to work out how in God's name they got from there (hating Klaus) to here (being dead scared that he might be dying) in just the space of a few days. 

Caroline is tired. She is really tired, and not in a way that eight hours of sleep and a cup of coffee could solve. It's been a rollercoaster of a night. Just a few hours ago they were dancing and laughing and furiously making out up against a table and now he's gone into a state of stupor she can't wake him up from. It's a lot to work out. But as much as she'd like to sit in the safe space of the car and wait for _something_ to happen - enlightenment, magic, a miracle - she knows nothing will if she doesn't move. She stares at her hand in Klaus' for a moment, his fingers listless in her grip, feels the ghost of his touches still burning on her skin, and reaches a decision.

"Just hang in there, ok," she tells Klaus. "I'll be right back."

Caroline leaves the car and goes back to the store. Sheila might not have a definitive answer to their problem yet, but she's still a witch. Maybe she can come up with something to help Klaus. A way to keep him impervious to whatever happens to his body on the outside world.

The lights are still on, but there's no sign of Sheila. It doesn't look like there are many places she could've gone to, though. "Sheila?" she calls, taking tentative steps.

As though conjured out of thin air, the witch shows up behind the counter, apparently coming out of a door Caroline could swear hadn't been there just a second before.

"I thought I said I'd contact you when I had something, Caroline. It's been fifteen minutes," she replies, with that same stoic face that betrays nothing. Had Miss Sheila always been like this? The grams she remembers had kind eyes and gentle hands. This woman is... Warped. How come she hadn't noticed this before?

"I know. I'm sorry," she hurries to say. "I was leaving, but something happened. My friend - Klaus - he... I don't know. He passed out and I can't wake him up. I think it's serious this time, Miss Sheila."

"I'm sorry, child. There's nothing I can do."

"I know he was very rude and that he can be a pain the ass, trust me, _I know_. But... he's everything I've got right now. I don't know what to do without him and I think... I think he's in real danger. Please," Caroline says, in a pleading tone. "Please, help him."

"Friend, huh? What is your relationship with him?"

"We're... He's... Partners. In a... Professional, trying to sort out the situation, way."

"Really? Because it sounds to me like there's more to it than just partnership."

"We've... Bonded. It's been a very hard week. We've been through a lot."

"He's not a good man, Caroline. You shouldn't be getting so attached to him."

"Look, it's... Not so simple, ok? With all due respect, Miss Sheila, you've known him for two seconds, so I don't think you can judge. It's... Complicated. I don't know. That's the most honest answer I can give right now. I don't know what Klaus and I... I don't even know if there _is_ a Klaus and I. All I know is that my life and the lives of a lot of other people depend on his. If he dies, we die."

"You're not dying, Caroline," Sheila says, almost dismissively. "And neither is he."

"He's not?" Caroline asks, a glimmer of hope in her chest. "Are you sure? How do you know that?"

"He's strong. _Very_ strong. It takes a lot more than this to kill an Original hybrid."

"I know that, but he -" Caroline stops. Her hands start to shake and her insides clench. She never mentioned what kind of superior creature Klaus was supposed to be. "How do you know he's an Original hybrid?"

A cruel, vicious smile breaks onto Sheila's face. This is _definitely_ not the woman she remembers. Bonnie's grandmother could never look so nefarious, so soulless. This is not Sheila Bennett.

"Oops," not-Sheila says. 

Caroline takes a step back. "Who are you?"

"Come now, Caroline. You know exactly who I am. _Very old, very psychic_... Is that really the best you can come up to describe me? I expected a bit more."

Caroline feels all the color drain out of her face. "Silas," the name escapes her as though on its own volition, coaxing an even uglier smile from not-Sheila. Instead of beating faster, Caroline feels as though her heart starts beating _slower_. 

If Klaus were here, he'd know exactly what to do. But he's currently lying unconscious, all alone in the car outside and Caroline needs to get the hell out of here.

She takes two very small steps back and then turns, making a run for the door, but it's locked. 

_Oh, no no no. This can't be happening. It just can't_.

"Don't bother, darling," Silas says, still on that cold, detached version of Sheila's voice. "It won't open."

_Shit, shit, shit._

"Did you really think I would put a magical button to destroy my own dream manipulation from within? I built this world, Caroline. Everything in it. Every bread crumb you've followed so far, it was me. I admit it, you and Klaus came up with quite clever theories. I was impressed. He noticed things I never expected him to. _Glitches in the world-building_. I don't handle criticism very well."

Caroline closes her eyes, takes a deep breath and forces her hands to stop shaking. She can't fall apart now. She can't give Silas the satisfaction of seeing her terrified. She needs to get to Klaus.

Slowly but surely, sticking her chin up in defiance, Caroline turns to him. Her. _Him_. 

"What are you going to do to us?" she demands.

"To you? Nothing," Silas replies, sounding less and less like Sheila. It's so obvious it's not her. How could she miss it? "You can rest assured that I mean no harm to you. I need your friend Bonnie to help me and I have a feeling keeping you here is not going to swing her will in my favor. It's been fun, watching you two." Silas starts walking towards Caroline. Fuck, she needs a weapon. "But we're almost ready to bring down the veil now, and I need Bonnie Bennett's collaboration. So, as a sign of good faith, I'm letting you go."

"What do you mean, letting me go?"

"Your time playing human is up. Time to go back to Mystic Falls now."

"What about Klaus?"

Silas stops, arched eyebrows in enquiry. "Ah," Silas says, smirking. "Klaus. You two have gotten very close, haven't you? I have to say, Caroline. I'm a little worried about you. He's not a good company. And that temper of his? The guy is just _unpleasant_."

"I'm not going anywhere."

"That's noble of you. It really is. But I'm afraid the choice is not yours. And I hope you'll put in a good word with Bonnie for me."

"I will never help you!"

"That's not very smart, darling. And frankly, I'm a little wounded here. You've been walking around with a Mikaelson." Silas shakes his head. "I'm no worse than Klaus. All I want is to be reunited with the woman I love. I'm sure you can relate, considering your own sob story, caused by Klaus, nonetheless, the man with whom you were locking lips just a while ago."

Had this been any other time, or any other person, Caroline would've had the decency to blush. Right now, though, there are more important things at stake. Try as hard as she might to stall, she cannot think of a way to escape this store. She can't leave Klaus behind. She _promised_.

"Well, you'll come around," Silas said after a moment, with a shrug. "You also told Klaus once that you'd never help him, now look at you. Desperate to save his life." The smirk on Sheila's distorted face lacks all the charm and the boyish mischief of Klaus'; it's ugly and scary, the stuff that nightmares are made of.

In a blink, Silas whooshes to her face in a more fluid movement than any vampire she has ever seen, even the originals. He's _fast_. He grabs her arms, firmly but not enough to hurt, closing his fingers around her wrists.

"Let me go!" Caroline screams, jerking her arms away, fruitlessly. It's only Sheila's body, and she's an elderly lady who's much shorter than Caroline, but still it's like she's a child fighting a grown up. Silas doesn't even budge.

"See you on the other side," he says, and suddenly the whole world starts spinning around her.

Caroline pants, feels terrifyingly weak, her muscles resisting the simple command to stand. She feels herself sinking, falling, spiraling. Darkness creeps in at the edge of her sight, then everything goes black and she feels no more.

 

**TBC**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> \- It's been a while since I watched that part of TVD, but I did do some research to make sure I wasn't crazy and I am pretty certain Klaus never meets Sheila, not even as a ghost. I apologize if I'm wrong about that.
> 
> \- I've never been to New Orleans, but Algiers does get mentioned in TO as some sort of witch-refuge in the city. I read a little about it and also inspected maps to write this chapter, but still could've gotten things wrong. Again, apologies.
> 
> \- So... thoughts? This is the chapter where I finally start to move the plot (I know, there is one! lol). Won't take too long with it though, 'cause I'm shamefully here for the fan service.


	11. How to Save a Life

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you were waiting for the new chapters to start before returning to this story, here it is! The longest chapter so far and the first completely new one. Took me a long time to write this little beast. When I took WAHNOLA down, I told myself I'd only start posting it again if I managed to wrap up this chapter. It was by far the hardest one to write for me. It's a major point in the story.
> 
> I'm excited, but also NERVOUS AF. So please be kind? But also, if you do enjoy it, let me know, please please please? I'm really looking forward to your feedback on this part and your thoughts. There are six more chapters to go.
> 
> As always, I have to remind you that English is not my first language and that you will surely find many typos and mistakes and for that I apologize. Thank you very much to everyone who's been reading this story and for your kind support and lovely commentary! I would not have started to post this again, and gotten this far, if it wasn't for you. XOXO

The first thing Caroline registers is the cold.

Her whole body is stiff and sore, but mostly she is bone-deep cold. She parts her lips and feels her throat dry and raw as though someone had stuffed it with sand. Her lungs scream as she tries to suck the air in, a thousand knives cutting her from the inside out.

As she finally starts to come to her senses and her thoughts seem to defog, Caroline is immediately overtaken by an awareness that she must keep very still, very quiet, or something bad would happen. She keeps her eyes tight shut and listens past the sound of her own manic heartbeat.

Slowly, Caroline cracks her eyes open, but nothing changes. She can't see a thing. All around her, all is darkness. It takes awhile, during which she considers whether she's gone blind or if she's locked up somewhere, but at last she begins to adjust to the almost complete lack of luminosity, enough to distinguish some details on her surroundings.

If she's indeed locked up somewhere, it's somewhere _big_. She knows she's lying on dirt, but from where she stands she can't see the ceiling. The walls are all irregular and with strange protuberances, and it takes Caroline a moment to realize that what she's looking at is stone. Stone walls. Or not really walls, more like... A cave?

Mystic Falls. The tunnels under the old Lockwood property. She's in Mystic Falls. _Home_.

Her mind slowly begins to unravel and, as it does, flashes of memory come crashing in upon her conscious but still very hazy mind, dragging a horrible headache in its wake. She remembers being in New Orleans. Waiting for... Something. Someone. Bonnie? No, not Bonnie. Her grandmother. It was late and she was scared, but she was not alone. _Klaus_. Klaus was there. He felt ill, and then he passed out. Then what? _What_?

Caroline's mind gets stuck for a second, she misses the thread, gets lost in memories from different times. A road. A dead dog? Whose dog was that? The bar. A party. Klaus again. Klaus in fancy attire, offering her champagne. They're in the car and he's unconscious. Caroline's scared again. _She ran away_. No. No, she didn't. She left him in the car to get help. Bonnie's grandmother again. And then... Then...

 _Silas_.

Caroline's heart skips a beat, her breath hitches. Suddenly, she's fully awake; her eyes wide and filled with terror. Sheila Bennett was Silas all along. He grabbed her, she tried to fight him, to get out of the voodoo store and run back to the car, but he wouldn't let her. He was too strong. And then everything went dark.

He said he was dragging her out. He was pulling the plug and disconnecting her from that dream manipulation. And now she's back in Mystic Falls. But then... That means...

 _Klaus_.

Caroline sits up so fast she gets whiplash.

She has to go back. She has to figure out what happened and she needs to find a way to go back. Klaus doesn't know Silas pulled her out. If he wakes up and doesn't find her there, he'll think she's -

As Caroline tries to stand up, her arm brushes against something. A body. A dead, ashen, desiccated body.

Klaus's body.

"Oh my God." Her throat throbs as the words escape her lips. She feels weak and dizzy and there's a giant, aching hole inside of her, threatening to consume her from the inside out, which she recognizes as hunger. The same kind of incapacitating hunger she used to feel back when she was first turned. It hurts to move, to breathe, most of all to speak, but Caroline doesn't care about any of that as she leans over Klaus and uses all the strength she can muster to shake him hard.

"Klaus!" she calls, words like sandpaper on her tongue. "Klaus, wake up! You have to wake up!"

Nothing. He's been dried out. There are no signs of stakes or any other weapon-inflicted injuries anywhere, and Caroline knows for a fact that, had he been stabbed with the white oak, he'd have burned, just like Kol. So he's not dead. He can't die. _He's not dead, he's not dead, he's not dead,_ she keeps chanting in her head. A scant comfort, but a comfort nonetheless.

She probably hasn't been fed in a long time, just like Klaus, although, if she's awake, she must've been fed _some_ blood - _by Silas_ , her mind supplies - but she sinks her teeth on her wrist anyway and lets her blood drop painfully on his mouth, tinting his pale lips with specks of red.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you."

Caroline freezes. Her whole body goes tense but some primal instinct kicks in and she knows she's ready to fight for her life. Something tells her to run, to gather all the last remaining energy she has in her and use her vampire speed to get away from there, but she stands her ground. She can't leave Klaus. Not again.

"It won't do anything, mind you. Probably just give him some extra vigor, which is inconvenient but not exactly a problem. It's not enough to wake him up. But it's bad for you. You need to feed, Caroline, and that's a waste of perfectly good blood that you don't have to spare right now."

The voice isn't immediately familiar to her. Caroline turns around to find Bonnie's creepy professor Shane standing there. The one that, as far as she knows, died on that damned island expedition.

Caroline drags the courage up from where it's lodged deep in her gut, sets it in her chest instead. She doesn't break the eye contact, doesn't let herself cower under Silas' ominous stare. He's got that smug smile on his face, almost casual, but the darkness in his eyes is visible even inside the barely lit cave. She doesn't know the full extent of his powers, but if he's capable of knocking out Klaus, then he sure as hell can finish her.

"Do you only ever appear as dead people or are you just that creepy?" she asks, sticking out her chin in defiance.

Silas laughs. "No, that's not a particular preference. But I can change, if you prefer." She doesn't even blink, but suddenly Shane is gone and Klaus is there, dimpled smile and everything. "Is that better?" he asks, in that perfect British accent that has colored Caroline's nightmares and dreams alike.

Caroline feels a hot flush of anger rising in her system just then, and it must register on her face, because Silas cocks his eyebrows in mock-question.

"No? I thought you might enjoy this look."

Filled with a new kind of determination, born out of the knowledge that if she doesn't try to escape that place really soon she'll end up getting herself killed by trying to kick Silas' ass, Caroline gathers every ounce of strength in her weakened body to grab Klaus and run. But she's too slow. Before she can even lift Klaus off the ground, Silas is on her, holding her in place and squeezing her arms so tightly she has to let go.

"Now, _love_ ," he says, his face inches away from hers. He twists the last word in a scornful manner, and it just makes Caroline's blood boil. "I told you before; I can't let you do this. You're free to go, but he stays."

"What are you doing?" she grits out.

"I'm showing good faith, but your refusing to play nice is making things a whole lot harder than they have to be."

" _Good faith_?" she nearly spits out. "You kidnapped me, kept me trapped in this cave for God knows how long. There's no _good faith_ here and you're insane if you think I'll ever help you."

"I would think that over if I were you," he says, drily, but Caroline can hear the threat behind his words.

"Let us go," Caroline demands. She's scared as hell, her heart is pounding, she feels nauseated and one brusque movement away from passing out, but she refuses to break down.

" _You_ may go."

"Why do you want him? I don't understand what you get out of this."

"It's not for you to understand. But, to be perfectly honest, I don't get all that determination to save Klaus. As far as I'm concerned, he's the resident villain of Mystic Falls, is he not? I'm offering you a clean way of getting rid of him, for good. I would've thought you lot would be so glad you'd jump to help out of gratefulness."

"Wha-what do you mean, getting rid of him?" Caroline stutters, trying her best to keep the worry beginning to cramp up her stomach off her feature.

"Don't worry. He won't die. Your sire line is safe. He'll just be - what's a good word for it?" He seems to ponder over it for a second, before a vicious grin spreads on his lips - not, Caroline notes with some pain, an unfamiliar expression on Klaus' face. She knows that cruel twist of his mouth like the back of her hand. "Shut down."

"And what the hell is that supposed to mean?"

Silas lets out a weary, bored sigh. "If you must know - I can keep Klaus like this indefinitely. Even after my departure, once Bonnie brings down the veil and I can finally take the cure and die, he'll remain in that comatose state. So you don't have to worry about him hurting anyone else ever again. Think of this as my parting gift to Mystic Falls - provided, of course, that I get what I want."

"That's not possible," she mutters, almost involuntarily, her heart tightening in her chest. It _shouldn't_ be possible. Klaus is the original hybrid, he's way too strong to be kept down like this. If there was a way to get him out of circulation, _someone_ would've figured it out already. He's been causing havoc and making enemies for a thousand years. Surely there's no shortage of powerful beings that would die to have the opportunity.

 _But there's never been a Silas before_ , a small voice reminds her. Silas is the _real_ original vampire, and one with, apparently, and endless stock of tricks unlike anything they've ever encountered before. Unlike anything that's ever crossed the Mikaelson family's path in the thousand years they've been roaming the earth. They're children compared to Silas.

 _Shit_.

"It's very possible, I assure you. He's a strong one, Niklaus. I was pleasantly surprised. I was forced to break a sweat to get him down. Had to bleed him dry to the last drop - delicious blood, by the way. Quite something, indeed. But once I did overpower him, it was only too easy to gain full access to his mind, build that - what is it that you call it? A dream manipulation. All I had to do, really, was a plant a seed. The rest was his own mind's work, where he goes, what he does. I don't have to be in there all the time. Although, I have to say, I did appreciate watching your squabbles on your way to New Orleans. That argument by the side of the road?" Silas shakes his head, irony bleeding through his voice. "That was _powerful_. So very emotional. Have you ever considered writing a book?"

"You're sick!" Caroline stands to her feet, her wobbly knees threatening to give in under her weight. " _Why_ did you do all that? You don't need him or me. Why take us?"

He shrugs. "Because I could. And because an original hybrid is an exquisite source of energy. I'd have to assault the entire country's blood banks in order to harness the kind of power I can get from draining one individual. So why not? Takes some work, but it's totally worth it. For as long as I keep him like this, I can feed off his energy _and_ use it to power the manipulation. You see the genius of it? It's perfect."

"What about me?"

"Oh, you're nothing - no offense, darling." Caroline squirms at the adjective. It sounds so unfitting in Klaus' voice. It's either love or sweetheart with him, which are both equally condescending and annoying, but _darling_ is just plain _wrong_. "You were just distraction. Besides, I needed someone to provide some more in-depth knowledge about the city and all its inhabitants in order to build a suitable simulation. I was going to take Elena Gilbert, but once I gained access to Klaus' mind, I kept seeing you everywhere." He smirks. "You don't suppose that means the big bad wolf here has a heart stashed somewhere, do you?"

If the situation wasn't so dire and she wasn't so worried about what all this madness means and there was actually enough blood in her body, Caroline might've blushed at the comment. She wonders what Klaus would have to say about that. He'd probably get angry, deny it, then attempt to rip Silas' throat out.

But of course she'll never know what Klaus' reaction would be because, if Evil Spawn is telling the truth, he won't be waking up. Ever.

"That still does not explain how you intend to keep him down," Caroline prods, surprised by the calm in her voice. Everything inside her is shaking. "He's too strong. Believe me, we've tried."

"Well, not to sound rude, but you're not me, are you? My psychic abilities go beyond anything you know. It's not as simple to break out of it. It runs deep and it takes root. Given more time, his mind will begin to crumble. And once it's completely destroyed, there'll be no undoing it. He can't die, so the sire line will be preserved, which I take is important to you, but he won't be exactly alive either. It's the best of both worlds." Caroline stumbles back as he takes a step closer to her, shutting her eyes for a fraction of a second. When she opens them again, Silas has taken the form of Professor Shane once more. "Does that satisfy your questions?"

"No," she replies, stubbornly.

"Unfortunately, that's all you'll get. It's time for you to go."

"I'm not going anywhere."

Silas lets out a sharp breath, squaring his shoulders and pressing his lips into a fine line; some of what had so far been an almost laid-back manner gives place to clear signs of impatience. "I've been quite understanding so far but make no mistake, Caroline, you are not in a position to negotiate with me, and, frankly, I'm starting to get really annoyed. I'm letting you go because I'm not a monster and I need your friend's help, but don't stretch it. I have no use for you and I certainly have other ways of persuading Bonnie." He moves in such an impossibly fast manner it's like he teleported - Caroline blinked and he was on her face again, hands firmly on her shoulders, his fingers digging painfully into her skin. "Go, Caroline. Get out of here, and tell Bonnie I'm waiting for her."

Before she can do anything - react, fight back, scream for help - everything goes dark again. But it lasts for only a second. Immediately after, she's jerking awake. But she's no longer in the caves, or even at the old Lockwood property. She's in the woods, lying on a bed of fallen leaves, surrounded by nothing but trees, completely alone and totally disoriented. These woods are her backyard, she could find her way around with her eyes closed any day, but right now, as light-headed and confused as she is, Caroline has no idea where she's been dropped.

Her stomach hurts so bad it's like someone pierced a hole through her body. It's hard to think, harder still to move. Just moving the joints of her hips and legs is agony. It doesn't feel like she'll ever be able to support herself long enough to run, but then her survival instincts kick in again, and she's scrambling to her feet, bracing herself against the nearest tree.

Caroline straightens up as best as she can, draws in a sharp intake of breath - once, twice, until her vision steadies and the pain becomes more bearable. And then she starts running. As fast as she can, for as long as her body will endure. She feels terrifyingly weak, but resists the urge to stop.

The regained vampire speed leaves her winded, unable to focus or even determine where she's going. Her legs move as though out of their own accord. She comes to a halt when she finally spots something familiar. A driveway she recognizes. A brown stone house surrounded by trees.

The Salvatore Boarding House.

_Oh, thank God._

Caroline doesn't even bother knocking, just storms straight in.

"Stefan! Damon! Anyone here?!"

"Caroline?"

She turns around and finds Stefan watching her, eyebrows bunched together.

"Stefan," she breathes out in relief. Damon would've had to do, but she's glad it's not him.

"You look like you just saw the devil."

"You have no idea. We have to... I was just... Silas..." _Goddamnit_ , Caroline thinks. She can't breathe. Her thoughts are spinning and the words are melting on the tip of her tongue.

"Calm down," Stefan says, a concerned edge on his voice and maybe also in his eyes but all she sees is a blur where his face is supposed to be.

 _Klaus_ , Caroline says. Or maybe not. In her head, she's screaming, _We have to get to Klaus, I have to go back_. Caroline fights to steady her breathing to no avail. Her vision blurs, gets brighter and brighter until she sees nothing but white, pain crackling across her skin yet again.

And then she's out.

 

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

 

She wakes up from something that feels like sleep and more a strange state of unconsciousness. She's exhausted as though she has just finished running a marathon, and her body aches accordingly. Her head is pounding.

For a moment, her mind is blank, her thoughts completely scattered. She feels slow and confused, can't really process what's happening, until pain tears through her again and the sudden wave of uncontrollable, violent hunger makes all her senses immediately sharp. She's starving and in survival mode, and there's food nearby.

When she finally opens her eyes, she finds Stefan sitting on a chair by the bed, holding a blood bag. Caroline doesn't even wait for him to offer it to her; she just rips it out of his hands and sinks her teeth into the plastic bag like a savage animal.

"Wow," Stefan says. "Someone skipped breakfast."

Caroline dries the bag in seconds. "Do you have more?" she asks, licking her lips.

Stefan takes a second bag and hands it to her. It goes just as fast as the first, and with the same finesse as well. When she's done, her mouth is all smeared with blood, but already she feels better, less wild, the muscle pain noticeably dulled. For the first time since she woke up in the cave, Caroline feels somewhat clear-headed, her senses settled and not all over the place, screwing with her head, and so the memories of the recent events all come rushing back to her.

As her eyes focus again on Stefan's mildly confused expression, Caroline feels a bubble of anger rise inside of her. She spent seven days at the hands of Silas and one of her best friends is staring at her like she's gone crazy.

"What happened to you?" Stefan asks.

"What happened to me?" she parrots, the beginning of real heat in her voice. "What happened to me is that I have the worst friends ever, that's what!"

Stefan's brow furrows deeper. "Am I supposed to know what you're talking about?"

"Seriously?! Honestly, Stefan, I know you've been crawling up the walls because of Elena, but I expected more from you."

"I want to say that I'm sorry but I really haven't got a clue what you mean."

"I was gone, Stefan! For seven freaking days! And no one went looking for me! No one even _noticed_ I was gone, apparently!" She's nearly screaming now, gesticulating manically in Stefan's face. He looks absolutely lost, which just makes Caroline angrier. She's always known that she's no Elena, but to not even realize that she disappeared? Really? Do they seriously only notice her when they need something?

She's not just mad, she's hurt too. Caroline has put her life in danger more times than she can remember to help them, would walk through hell fire for any of them, but it seems the feeling is not mutual. When it's her life on the line, they can't even get their heads out of their own asses long enough to realize she's in danger.

"Wait," Stefan says. "Seven days? What - when?" Caroline prepares herself to start yelling again, but he adds, "I just saw you this morning."

"What? No. No, you didn't. That was _last week_. God, I missed _prom_ , Stefan. How the hell did you not notice that?"

"What are you talking about? Prom is next week. I'm not exactly looking forward to it, but I think I would know if I'd missed it."

Caroline's gut goes cold. "That's not possible," she says with none of the fire of just a second ago. "I've been gone for a week."

"Gone where?"

"Silas kidnapped me. He kept me at the tunnels for a week, trapped in a dream manipulation where there was no magic or vampires or werewolves and we were all humans. He bled me dry and kept me starved, that's why I was so hungry. I hadn't fed in a week."

Stefan's eyebrows crept up to his hairline. " _What_?"

"It was right after I saw you. I was on my way to school, to a -"

"Prom committee meeting, yes. You told me. That was this morning."

Caroline slumps back against the bed's headboard, visibly deflated, a million things rushing through her mind in record speed, the most prominent of which is - what if she isn't out of the dream yet? What if this is another of Silas' manipulations? What if he's just moved on to phase two of whatever the hell he's up to and changed scenery?

"That makes no sense," she says, low and steady, as though talking to herself. "Why would he do that? He needs Bonnie. What is the day today?"

"April 13th."

"Oh my God... It's the day I vanished. The same day."

"So... What does that mean?" Stefan asks, visibly concerned. Caroline would feel guilty for yelling at him if only she wasn't so damn disoriented.

"Silas took me outside school, at least that's the last thing I remember. He kept me trapped in this illusion, like a dream manipulation on steroids, but for me it was like a whole week had gone by. I remember every day, from start to finish. I thought I'd missed -" She stops talking all of a sudden, realization dawning on her. "Wait. What time is it?"

"Uhm... Just after two pm, I think."

"How long did I stay knocked out for?"

"A couple of hours."

"Oh, no." Caroline jumps to her feet, walks all the way to the door and then turns back to Stefan. "I have to go back. I have to go back _now_."

" _What_?" Stefan follows her. "You want to go back to Silas?"

"I have to. Klaus is still there. And if time is passing by differently and I was out for hours, plus the time I spent in the tunnels - It could be _days_ since I left. He'll think I'm gone!"

"Ok - _what_? Klaus? Silas took Klaus?"

" _Yes_!" Caroline bellows, exasperated. "He took us both, but he really only meant to keep Klaus there. Stefan, he's in danger. Klaus could die."

"Great," Stefan says. "That's all we needed. The nemesis we have to keep alive in the hands of the nemesis who wants us all out of his way."

"So you'll help me?"

"Do I have a choice?" he speaks around a sigh, visibly not motivated to put his ass on the line to save Klaus'. But motivation is not really top priority right now. She can't face Silas by herself, so she'll take whatever help she can get, even from the reluctant ones. "What do you need?"

Caroline thinks for a second. "Bonnie. We need Bonnie."

 

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

 

"Let me get this straight," Bonnie says, raising her palm in the air to stop Caroline's exasperated rambling. Who would've guessed that convincing people whose lives Klaus has terrorized to go on a potentially deadly rescue mission for him would be hard? "Silas is somehow channeling Klaus in order to strengthen himself?"

"Yes."

"And if he continues to do that for long enough, Klaus might never wake up."

"Exactly."

"But he won't die?"

"No."

"He'll just... Stay asleep. Forever. Like the Sleeping... Beast?"

"I think so."

"And this is not a threat to the sire line."

"Not according to Silas."

"Ok," Bonnie drawls. "Correct me if I'm wrong, but to me it sounds like he's doing us a favor. I don't see why we should go all guns blazing on Silas to rescue Klaus."

"My thoughts exactly," Stefan agrees.

"You don't know that Silas is telling the truth," Caroline protests. "He could be lying about it not affecting the sire line."

"I know for a fact that it is possible to put Klaus down without necessarily killing him. I've done it."

"That was different. That was magic. This is something else, something none of us understands. It could have consequences."

"I'm sure Silas is powerful, but I don't see how a dream manipulation could get an Original killed," Stefan muses. "Someone would've done that already if it was that simple."

"It's not that simple, that's the point! There's never been an older and more powerful creature than an Original before. Silas is the original Original. Don't you see? This is unprecedented."

"Still not enough for me."

"Bonnie!"

"Are you listening to yourself? I know you were trapped for days with him, but is a week really all it takes to erase everything he's done? It's still Klaus."

Caroline opens her mouth to protest some more, but shuts it back up. None of her arguments will ever be enough to convince them. She's flustered and indignant, but the truth is they're not entirely wrong.

Klaus ruined Stefan's life more than once. His family drama was the whole reason why Bonnie's mother left her, and then why she was killed and turned into a vampire. Not to mention all the times Klaus held Bonnie against her will and forced her to work for him. They have every reason and then some to want Klaus gone from their lives for good. And so does Caroline. Except she doesn't want him gone. She made him a promise and she intends to keep it. With or without her friends' help.

"Fine," she says after a moment. "You don't want to risk your lives for Klaus. I get that. But you don't know what it was like, being trapped in that place, and you can't judge me for that. I thought I'd gone mad, and I would've certainly lost my mind if it wasn't for him. He would not have been my first pick to be trapped with in an alternate reality, but I did not get a say on that, so he was all I had. And he had my back the whole time, so I had to have his too, and we almost killed each other several times, but we also kept each other sane. And I know if the roles were reversed and Silas had let him go, he would go back for me, so I have to go back for him. If you help me, I might actually stand a chance. But I'm going anyway, with or without you. What I can't do is sit here and waste any more time. So. What is it gonna be? Are you in or out?"

She looks from Bonnie to Stefan and back, waiting for them to say something, anything. They exchange a doubtful glance, then look down at their own feet. And that's all the answer she needs, really. They also hate Klaus more than they're willing to offer a helping hand to her. She should've known.

It stings a little, if she's perfectly honest. Caroline has gone to hell and back for them. A tiny bitter voice in her head tells her they wouldn't think twice if it was Elena's request, but she'll deal with the resentment later. For now, she has to swallow past the lump in her throat, roll up her sleeves and get to work. Every minute counts.

"Ok. Message understood."

Caroline turns on her heels and heads to the door. She really, _really_ didn't want to have to resort to Rebekah, but it seems like that will be her only choice. She has her own issues with her brother, but they're family. Just as Stefan would drop anything to save Damon's sorry ass, Rebekah will do it for Klaus. She'll whine about it, play hard to get, say _Nik_ doesn't deserve her pity, but she'll do it. She has to. If not, then Caroline really is screwed. And so is Klaus.

"Caroline, wait," Stefan says, causing her to halt just before walking out. "You can't face Silas on your own, that's insane."

"It is." She turns around to face him, cocking him a defiant eyebrow. "But I'll do it anyway."

Stefan lets out a weary sigh, shakes his head in defeat. "I can't let you do this on your own. I'm going with you."

"Really?"

"Yes."

A smile spreads on Caroline's lips, her faith in her friends suddenly renewed. "Thank you."

"Don't thank me yet. I don't know how much help I'll be, but... I'll do what I can."

"I'll go too." Bonnie joins them by the door, a resigned look on her face, but with that crease of determination Caroline has come to know so well in the last few years set between her eyebrows. "But for the record, I do not like this idea."

Caroline wraps her arms around Bonnie, giving her a tight hug. "Thank you."

"I'm doing this for _you_. Because I don't want _you_ to get hurt trying to save that asshole. I couldn't care less about Klaus," Bonnie says, rubbing her back. "Just so you know."

Caroline pulls away and smiles fondly at her friend. This isn't just about getting their help and not having to call Rebekah. It's about knowing she can count on her friends, for better or for worse. It's good to have their support.

"Ok." Stefan claps his hands once, putting them all back on fight mode. "Now that we're all on the same page - we need a plan."

"I might have one," Bonnie says. "Follow me."

 

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

 

Everything happens so fast.

One second she's outside the tunnels at the old Lockwood property, the next she's in the middle of a war zone, with screaming and chanting and tornados coming out of freaking nowhere. It's insane.

Later, when she comes down from the adrenaline high, Caroline's probably going to realize just how out of her mind she had to be to sneak up on a 2000 years old creature, powered on Original crack, taking her friends with her. But in the moment, as the action happens, it's all about the mission.

Rescuing Klaus.

Bonnie's original idea was to go by herself and negotiate with Silas. "He'll listen to me," she insisted. "He needs me."

"No way I'm letting you go there by yourself," Caroline says, putting her foot down. It was enough that she was asking her friends to possibly risk their lives, she wasn't about to let any of them do it on their own. So they had to improvise.

Bonnie was pretty certain that she was strong enough to overpower Silas, at least long enough for them to get Klaus out of there. But he'd need to be distracted. Stefan volunteered as decoy but, again, Caroline disagreed. "I'll do it. He's expecting me to do something, anyway. Besides, I have a PhD in playing bait. You cover for Bonnie and as soon as she gets Silas down, you take Klaus and you run like hell. I'll make sure Bonnie gets out safely."

As far as their usual plans go, it is fairly simple and straightforward, but the list of things that could go wrong is endless. Caroline goes through all of the plot holes as they walk towards the tunnels entrance. For starters, they could be seriously underestimating Silas - not only his strength and the extent of his abilities, but also, and perhaps most importantly, his patience. Caroline is very much aware that, if anyone is going to die, it'll probably be her - which, considering it was all her idea, it's only fair. But she's not looking forward to dying in a cave.

"Ok," she says to them, bracing herself for courage. "If anything happens to me -"

"Caroline," Bonnie admonishes.

"Just - If anything happens to me, tell my mom I love her."

"You're not going to die," Stefan says, probably aiming for reassurance, but in his characteristic gloomy way, which reassures nothing.

Caroline turns to them, to her two best friends, and smiles. She missed them so much during the time she was trapped in Silas Land. It would've been torture, if it wasn't for the guy she's trying to save. "I love you guys."

"I'm not gonna tell you I love you," Bonnie says. "Because you're not dying. _No one_ is dying. I wouldn't be here to rescue Klaus of all people if I thought anyone I actually care about would end up dead. So no one's dying today, I forbid you. If you die, I'll have to bring you back just so I can kill you again. And then I'll have to kill Klaus, which might get _me_ killed, so let's not."

In spite of all her anti-death speech, Caroline wraps her arms tightly around Bonnie. She makes a mental note that, if they get out of this unscathed, she's going to take Bonnie out on a girls' night where neither guys nor magic will be allowed. "I don't know what I would do without you, Bonnie Bennett," she says.

Bonnie hugs her back. "Then don't die on me."

"I'll do my best."

After that, things go by in a mess of hazy flashes.

She finally makes it back to Silas' alcove in the cave, and it is empty save for Klaus' hopelessly dead body on the floor. She tries to listen for any signs of danger, but it's impossible to hear anything over the sound of her own heart drumming away in her chest. For a second she almost believes that it can be this easy - just grab Klaus' body and run out, no need to involve anyone else. But the moment she takes the first step towards him, there's a whoosh and a sigh from behind, making her stand up straighter and spin around on her heels.

"I admire your spirit, Caroline, I really do," Professor Shane says in a pitying tone. "But unfortunately it does get trying very fast."

The next thing she knows, Bonnie is there chanting something unintelligible, her hands high in the air as a wind comes out of nowhere to make dust and pebbles fly. Silas howls in pain, drops down to his knees. " _Bonnie_ ," he groans, trying to get up again.

"Stefan!" Caroline yells over the tumult, and then Stefan is there, lifting Klaus' body off the ground and throwing his limp figure over one shoulder, and then they're gone.

Silas screams even louder, a mix of anger and agony that hurts Caroline's ears.

"We have to go!" she yells at Bonnie, who nods at her once, never stopping the chant. Caroline grabs a stone off the ground and hits Silas as hard as she can on the back of his head. He falls down with a loud thump.

"He won't stay out for long," Bonnie says, catching her breath as the wind dies down and the tunnels go quiet again.

"Hold on," Caroline says, lifting her friend off her feet and whooshing out of the caves as fast as her baby vampire legs allow.

Caroline doesn't stop running until they're back at the Salvatore mansion.

"Holy sh..." Bonnie sways on her feet when Caroline puts her down, dizzy.

"Are you ok?" she asks, steadying her friend.

Bonnie nods. "Yeah. Just need to catch my breath. I'll be ok."

"Did that spell hurt you?"

"No, it was - intense, but not difficult. I probably couldn't have kept it going for much longer, though. Silas is _way_ stronger than I anticipated."

"That's Klaus. It's why Silas was keeping him there and why we had to get him out."

"Yes, why _we_ had to get him out. You, on the other hand..." Bonnie arches her eyebrows suggestively at Caroline and leaves it at that.

Caroline's eyes flicker away from her friend. "I have no idea what you're talking about," she says, as nonchalantly as she possibly can.

Before Bonnie can say anything else, however, Stefan shows up. "How do we know if it worked?"

"What do you mean?"

"Well, when is he supposed to look - you know. Less dead?"

"What?"

Caroline rushes to the living area, finds Klaus lying on one of the couches, looking every bit the same as he did inside the cave, except now, under more appropriate light, he seems even worse. Desiccated veins, greyish skin.

"We need blood," Caroline says. "Silas bled him out, maybe he needs to feed."

Stefan disappears for a moment and returns with a blood bag in his hands. Caroline kneels down on the floor next to Klaus' body, rips it open and, gently pulling his lips apart, starts dripping it inside his mouth. She stops, waits a little, but nothing happens. "He's not swallowing. It's not working," she says, a hint of exasperation on her voice. She turns to Stefan and Bonnie. "What do we do?"

Stefan shrugs. "I have no idea."

Bonnie is quiet for a moment, a pensive crease between her eyebrows. "He can't get out."

"What?" Caroline asks. "We got him out of Silas' hands. Shouldn't that be enough?"

"Not if Silas went too deep into his mind. If it was a superficial thing, like with the regular dream manipulations, he would've snapped out of it. But he's trapped under way too many layers of his subconscious and too weak to get out on his own. Silas had a psychic link to him because of his abilities, but... Severing that link is not going to get Klaus out."

"What are you saying?" Caroline asks, a rush of fear coursing through her. "Is he going to be locked up in his own head forever, just like Silas wanted?"

"There might be a way," Bonnie says, thoughtfully. "I'll have to use magic to get inside his head and try to pull him out. But it could be tricky. I don't know what I'll find inside Klaus' head. It could take forever."

"Can you send me in?"

"I could, but -"

"Use me," Caroline stands up in a second.

"It's dangerous, Caroline. I could lose you -"

"You won't. I can get him out. I know where he's supposed to be, I was there. So use me to track him and I'll bring him out." Bonnie and Stefan exchange a pointed look, heavy with implications Caroline does not want to be dueling on right now. There's no time. "I can do it. Come on."

With a displeased sigh, Bonnie finally nods. "Fine. Whatever. Let's just get this over with."

Caroline and Stefan go around the house picking up items for the spell - some herbs, candles and salt.

"Where do you need me?" Caroline asks when they're done setting up the spell, with Klaus' body positioned on the floor, inside a circle of salt.

"Lie down next to him, in the circle," she points out. "It's supposed to link you together."

Caroline positions herself on the floor, turning her face to the side to look at Klaus' still figure. If someone had told her 24 hours ago that before the day was over she'd be desperate to hear Klaus' smug, annoying voice again, she would've laughed. How fast the world spins.

"Ok, are you ready?" Bonnie asks.

"I'm ready," she lies. She's tired, messed up and scared, but she's not ready. Except they don't have any more time to waste and she has to do it anyway.

"Remember what I said. You have to find him quickly. I don't know how long I'll be able to hold the spell. Klaus is weakened but his mind is a fortress and it's probably going to fight me every step of the way. If I feel things are about to crumble, I'm pulling you out whether you have him or not. Understand?"

"Yes. Find him, grab him, get the hell out. Easy-peasy."

"Right," Bonnie says, shutting her eyes. "Stefan," she says, reaching out to him. She'll be channeling him in order to power the spell and, hopefully, be able to beat through Klaus' mental barriers.

Stefan takes her hand and smiles down at Caroline. "See you on the other side," he says, winking.

Before Caroline can return the smile, Bonnie starts chanting and then, for what feels like the millionth time that day, she's engulfed by darkness.

 

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

 

When Caroline opens her eyes, she's no longer at the Salvatore house, or anywhere in Mystic Falls for that matter. She's back in New Orleans, standing all by herself in the middle of deserted Bourbon Street.

The city looks exactly the same as it did the last time Caroline saw it, except for the quietness. When she left Bourbon Street, heading towards Algiers to wait for Sheila - _not Sheila_ , she reminds herself; _Silas_ -, the place had been brimming with people, music, colors. Now there's not a single soul around. The mob that had gathered to watch the witches' parade has completely vanished, not a trace of the festivity left behind. And it's not even like the party is over and everyone's gone home to sleep it off; it's like it never happened at all. Nothing sleeps or breathes or moves in New Orleans. It's a ghost town.

The thought of being back here and alone leaves Caroline cold for a moment, that paralyzing fear she'd had of being abandoned by Klaus and left to fend for herself in a world without magic suddenly hitting her again with full force. This, right here, is exactly what she was so afraid of.

This isn't Silas' doing anymore, she reminds herself; it's his project, but it's Bonnie's magic. It _feels_ different than before. She isn't alone.

Days could've passed in here since Silas pulled her out. Weeks. Maybe months.

Caroline shakes her head. She's not beaten yet; there's magic - good, strong, reliable magic - holding her steady, she can feel it thrumming through her, like energy. Klaus is somewhere in this mirage of a city, and she will find him.

With a thrill of unease, she lets her legs take over, lets her body do the thinking that her muddled head can't, quickening her pace until she is cutting through the streets of the French Quarter like a thunder, following a path she had no idea she had committed to memory. _Good legs_ , she thinks when she finds herself in front of the Mikaelson compound.

The front gate is open, like someone has recently passed by, which makes her immediately hopeful, but what she finds inside kills the feeling in a second. The place looks exactly as it did the first time she was there. Abandoned. Decrepit. One bad storm away from falling apart. No flowers, no fairy lights, no music. Not a trace of the prom Klaus threw her just last night.

Either too much time has passed, or no time at all. At this point, Caroline doesn't know which option is worse.

"Klaus! Are you there?!" Her voice reverberates through the empty building. " _Klaus!_ "

Caroline sharpens her hearing, concentrates, but there's no sound, no sign of life anywhere in the compound. Her heart sinks. She's too late. Klaus must've thought he'd been left behind, exactly as Caroline promised she wouldn't do.

There's a burning behind her eyes, a trembling on her chin. She clenches her hands, nails digging into her palms, and then a sound like a howl of frustration escapes her lips. Caroline's _angry_. She reaches out for the first thing she can find - an abandoned garden chair - and throws it across the courtyard with all the might of her recently recovered vampire strength. The fragile wood frame explodes into splinters as it hits the wall. Then the quietness takes hold again, steady for a while but for the sound of her ragged breathing as she tries to control her fury, picturing herself ripping Silas apart, limb by limb. There's an appetite for revenge in her, for _violent_ retribution, that she doesn't think she's ever had before. Something seems to have rubbed off after spending so much time with Klaus. The thought of him dying in this place, all alone, thinking that she left him...

Klaus trusted her. He confided things to her she doesn't think he's ever shared with anyone else. Sure, he was drunk and human and vulnerable and so was she, so circumstances were far from realistic. Regular hybrid Klaus would've never made himself so exposed. But still. He let his guard down. This is what he was most afraid of - being alone, abandoned and completely helpless. In the real world, he had his aggressive, destructive, nearly savage ways of handling his insecurities, trying to quench them before they could hurt him. But in here, there was nothing he could do. His greatest fear, he'd said. And Caroline swore she wouldn't leave him, that she'd have his back as long as he had hers. Klaus kept his part of the deal, and he believed her. And then she was gone.

God, she is _so freaking_ -

Caroline stops, stays very still, her head cocked for attention. There was a sound, deep into the pooling darkness of the compound, somewhere on the second floor. Faint and low, but it was there. She's sure of it.

It could be just the wind or some rotten piece of the construction falling off somewhere, but... It sounded more like glass. Hitting the floor with a thud then rolling off. A bottle, maybe.

Caroline's heart lurches in her chest, a bubble of hope rising inside of her as she dashes off towards the sound, flying up the stairs. It's probably nothing, she tells herself, trying not to get her hopes up. The wind seems to be picking up outside, she can hear it sing through the holes on the roof. And fabric, rustling. Curtains. There's an open window somewhere. Her sharp vampire senses take her in quick steps towards Klaus' old studio, the one with the painting on the ceiling, where they slept - curled up together on the floor, drunk out of their asses - on their first night in New Orleans.

She stops by the threshold. The double doors to the balcony are wide open and the ragged pieces of curtain are billowing in the wind. Something bad is cooking out there, she can feel it. It looks like a storm, only it doesn't smell of rain. Caroline swallows past the lump in her throat and finally walks in.

Klaus.

 _Klaus_.

Lying on his back on an old, decayed couch, unblinking eyes fixed on the ceiling and an empty bottle of bourbon on the floor. Sickly and weakened and pale, just as he was right before she left, but _Klaus_ nonetheless. She's not too late. He's not gone. Not yet.

Caroline lets out a breath that sounds too much like a sob.

"I thought you were gone. I thought I'd never find you. Did you not hear me calling you?" Klaus remains impassive, as though he hasn't even registered that there's someone else with him in the room. "Klaus?" she tries gently, approaching the couch, suddenly fearing the worst. The floorboard squeaks under her foot, and then sluggishly, drowsy as though still half asleep, he finally looks at her, blinking a few times before his glazed-over eyes are able to focus.

"Sod off," he grumbles, his lips barely moving.

Caroline doesn't know whether to complain about his manners or throw her arms around him, so relieved she is to hear his voice, raspy and curt though it may be. She makes a mental note to mention it later, when they're safely out of this place. They need to go.

"I know you're grumpy, but we really don't have time to discuss your feelings right now, Klaus. We have to go." She reaches out to him, offering him a hand to help him stand up, but her proximity seems to snap Klaus out of his torpor, and not for the better.

With an energy she wouldn't have thought he had in him, Klaus jumps to his feet and shoves her away none too gently. It's a vampire against a sickly - and likely drunk - human, so Caroline hardly flinches, but she's stunned by the abruptness and the animosity of it. Not that she wasn't expecting to find some resistance, but this is...

It's pure hatred.

"I told you to leave me alone," he grits out, something dark and choleric burning in his eyes.

"Klaus -"

" _Get out_!" His guttural scream is powerful and coated in venom. Caroline's heard that sound several times, but never directed at her. She's never been on the receiving end of Klaus' famous tempers - the world-burning, all-consuming kind of rage that has made him famous throughout the ages.

Even at his worst, even as he bared his teeth and yelled at her face, when he sank his poisonous werewolf fangs in her neck or when he threatened to leave her by the side of the road with a dead dog, it was never like this. This is other people's Klaus. The monster.

It lands like a blow.

"I'm sorry," she says, earnestly. "I didn't mean to leave you. I tried to run, but he wouldn't let me. I didn't have a choice, Klaus - but I came back. I came back for you."

"Haven't you tortured me enough?" he asks, in a clipped and harsh tone.

"Tortured you?"

"Is your existence so sad and worthless that your sole entertainment is to torment a dying man? What a pathetic creature you must be."

And then it hits her.

"I'm not Silas." There's relief in Caroline's voice - it's not _her_ he's so angry with - but also worry. Not only for what Silas might've done or said to him while using her face, but because the clock is ticking and she'll need to get Klaus to trust her if she means to take him back. Somehow, Caroline thought it would be easier. She should've known better. Still, something seems to change in Klaus' stance, so she continues. "He showed up to you as me, didn't he? Did he tell you I left you here on purpose?"

Klaus hesitates, his face contorting and his eyes shining suspiciously.

"He pulled me out, Klaus. I went back to find Sheila after you passed out in the car, I thought she might be able to help with something to at least keep you awake, but there was no Sheila. It was Silas all along. He was toying with us. I tried to escape and go back to the car, I swear to God, Klaus, but he was too strong. Before I knew I was back in the real world and he was there - wearing _your_ face - saying that he needed Bonnie to cooperate or something. But I came back as soon as I could."

"Soon," Klaus mutters angrily. "Twenty four days sounds like soon, indeed."

 _Shit._ He was here alone for almost a month.

"It was just a few hours for me. We're still on the same day we were first abducted. Time is passing differently." Klaus looks at her as if he can't quite grasp what she's saying, like it doesn't make any sense. The mistrust is still there, but it's starting to weaver. He's searching her face, looking for _something_ , but Caroline has no idea what to show him, how to convince him once and for all that she's telling the truth.

"Silas was keeping you as a power source," she explains. "I think he needs to strengthen himself for what's to come and he found a way to drain your energy by keeping you stuck in a dream manipulation. He bled you dry, kept your body dead, unable to recover. You are so weak, Klaus, and he's gone so deep into your mind that you can't wake up on your own. But there's no jump start or anything that you can do from within. He made us believe that because he wanted to keep us busy. As long as we were navigating through the dream, searching for a way out that didn't exist, we were weakening ourselves, thus making it impossible to wake up without his command. You need to be guided out, pulled by something on the outside. I got you out of his control, but you're still trapped, and now that he isn't here to keep the dream manipulation going, it's falling apart. This place is going to disappear and when it does -" Caroline stops, biting on her lower lip. "When it does, you'll be gone with it. Forever. Your body will remain because you can't be killed, but there will be nothing left of you in it. Unless you come with me." She stretches a hand out to him again, her eyes pleading as she says, "Please, take my hand, Klaus. _Please_."

Klaus' gaze move down to her hand, then back to her face. There's hope flashing behind his eyes, he _wants_ to believe her, but his paranoid nature keeps him skeptical. Whatever Silas' done to him, it has made it worse.

"Just take my freaking hand, Klaus! You can be mad at me later."

"How do I know this isn't just another mind game?"

An exasperated grunt rumbles out of Caroline. "Oh, for God's sake!" That's it, she thinks. Drastic measures are in order.

With one swift move, she cups Klaus' face with both her hands and crushes her mouth against his. Caroline keeps a firm grip, in case he starts thrashing and tries to get away, but he's too stunned to react. She deepens the kiss, pushing her way into his mouth with her tongue. It doesn't take him long to relax into her touch, a hand coming to rest on her waist as he starts to kiss her back with an edge of relief.

The familiarity of the contact spreads a warmth through Caroline's chest, makes her insides twist with the recollection of the prom night, of what almost happened - of how much she had _wanted_ it. Klaus' kiss becomes hungrier, more desperate and possessive, and she thinks - hopes - that this means he's remembering, too.

There was nothing she could say to him that would be entirely convincing. Silas was the architect of everything that happened while they were trapped in the dream and he has seen into their minds. He knew of Klaus' feelings, it was how he knew Caroline was the person to take and, by now, after spending 24 days being tormented, Klaus is probably aware of that as well. So she did the only thing she could think of that Silas wouldn't be able to replicate. He may look like her, sound like her, know all the things that she does, but he can't _kiss_ like her. And even if by some creepy reason he can, Caroline thinks this is probably a line Silas would not be willing to cross. Not with Klaus, anyway. So here's her proof of identity.

She pulls away, her head spinning and chest bursting with feelings that are too complicated for her to try and work out right now - but her eyes are pleading. "Do you believe me now?"

Something melts in Klaus' hardened shell, his features rearranging into softer lines. "Caroline," he says, and she huffs out in relief, smiling at last.

And then everything becomes chaos.

A heavy gust of wind comes in through the window, sending dust and debris and everything else flying in the air. Caroline turns her face away, shuts her eyes and feels a tremor under her feet - light at first, but escalating quickly until the whole place is shaking. She hears the sound of things cracking and breaking and collapsing all around them. This house - this _world_ \- won't resist for long. They have to get out.

"What is happening?!" Klaus asks, trying to shield his eyes with his arms.

"It's falling apart, I told you! We have to go!"

Caroline tries to grab him, hold his wrists, but a strange force seems to be pulling them away. Her arms feel impossibly heavy all of sudden, her feet rooted to the floor, and Klaus moving away from her, slipping from her fingers. "No! Don't let go, Klaus!" She groans as though trying to lift an elephant, forcing her legs to move, her arms to lift. Her hands tremble from the strain, but they won't budge. Klaus thrashes and grunts but, as hard as he tries to hold on to her, she keeps escaping him.

It's only when she starts to feel herself getting lighter, as though she's floating in the eye of a hurricane, seeing everything around her as though through a blurry lens, that she understands. Bonnie is pulling her out. But not Klaus.

"No, Bonnie!" Caroline screams, her throat raw like sandpaper as she tries to make herself loud enough above the sound of the end of the world. "I need more time! You need to take him!"

A bolt of panic seizes Caroline. She didn't come all the way here just to watch as the light goes out in Klaus' eyes right in front of her. She did not come here to let him die.

With a new surge of determination, Caroline gathers every ounce of strength in her body, and then some. She scrunches her eyes closed, her teeth snapping together, an angry noise clawing out of her throat, and she finally breaks away from the force keeping her steady. It's only for a split-second, but enough for Caroline to launch forward and wrap her arms tightly around Klaus.

"Don't let go," she whispers to him, all the while chanting _Please, please, please, please_ in her head like a mantra.

This time, what engulfs her isn't darkness, but light - bright, blinding, harsh light like a bomb exploding, washing out everything around her until there's no more.

 

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

 

She comes to her senses with a gasp.

Everything is very still. Caroline blinked and all the chaos and the noise disappeared, giving place to an eerie quietness. Her fingers obey her when she tries to move them, as do her legs and arms. She's lying on a carpeted floor, with the great chandelier of the Salvatores' living room hanging above her head where, just a second before, there was a hand painted tree.

She made it back.

Caroline sits up, her stomach stirring as apprehension takes over. She turns to Klaus first, lying exactly where he was when Bonnie started her spell. Just as lifeless as before.

Her eyes then move to Bonnie, who's standing on the edge of the circle, heaving breaths, a trail of red running down her nose. "Oh my God," Caroline mumbles, jumping to her feet and rushing to her friend. "Are you ok?"

Bonnie blinks at her, as though only now snapping out of a trance. She wipes her nose with her hand, looking down at the blood on her fingers. "I'm fine," she says, although with a lot less confidence than Caroline would've liked.

"But your nose -"

"It's just the spell. Silas' manipulation began to crumble the second we took Klaus away from him, he was too weak to keep it up on his own. It took a bit more than I expected to hold it together for you to go in," Bonnie explains. She pauses then, giving Caroline a strange look. "Are _you_ ok?"

Caroline unwittingly flexes her fingers a few times, the strain of fighting to move still vivid in her memory. "Yeah. I think so. Stefan -"

"I'm ok," he replies, raising a hand from where he is, on the couch. "Just got a little dizzy."

"I'm sorry," Bonnie says. "I had to channel too much of your energy."

"I'll live. As long as everyone's ok."

He means the three of them, of course, but Caroline's eyes dart towards Klaus. A new ripple of fear runs through her as she crouches down beside him. "Why is he still like this?"

"I don't know," Bonnie says. "He was trapped way too deep into his subconscious and it was very unstable in there. He was fighting me every step of the way. I don't think he appreciates having people digging in his head very much."

"What are you saying?" Caroline asks, looking up at her friend.

"I don't know if I managed to get him out."

Caroline feels the bottom of her stomach drop. "But I had him," she protests, albeit weakly. "When I felt you pulling me out, I... I didn't let go. I had him."

"I don't think there was much we could do at that point."

"You said all I had to do was find him and grab him."

"I didn't mean it _literally_. But if he was halfway gone already, and unwilling to cooperate, then there was nothing you could do."

"But he wanted to come out, he was just... Suspicious. Silas had been playing him."

"Yeah, I heard him. I saw him, too. Saw _everything_."

Oh.

 _Oh_.

Caroline will concede that her decision-making was far from ideal, but it was entirely instinctive. It's not like she was in a position to overthink, what with the whole fabric of that universe falling apart right above her head and all. She may appreciate the nuance of well thought-out plans and outlined strategies, but she's also resourceful, and gut-feeling was all she had to work with in that moment.

She turns away from Bonnie's questioning eyes, not because she's ashamed or embarrassed, but because she doesn't have it in her to explain herself right now. Not even to Bonnie, who made a great sacrifice and put herself in danger to try and rescue Klaus.

Right now, none of that matters. Not the kiss, not Bonnie's questions, not even determining whose fault it was. Klaus is still dead. It didn't work. Nothing else matters.

"You did the best you could, Caroline," Stefan, bless his soul, totally oblivious to what's passing between her and Bonnie, says. "You risked your life to save him. It's a lot more than Klaus deserved. It's not your fault."

He's just trying to be supportive, Caroline knows, saying whatever he thinks will make her feel better, and in due time she's sure she'll be able to appreciate it, but right now his words actually make her shudder. They don't understand, none of them do. Being trapped in a simulation with all of your weaknesses and none of your strengths, it can tear a person apart. And Klaus was the glue that held her together through it, forced her to step up and fight her own fears because his were manifest and crippling. Even when she hated him, even when she wanted to blow up on his face and thump him on the head - those feelings kept her from spiraling out of control and losing her mind. He kept her grounded and connected to the real world and who she truly is.

And then there was that night...

It didn't make anything better. Didn't erase any of the horrible things Klaus has done, all the pain he's caused. But that feeling, the one Caroline had been chasing her whole life, that brand of happiness which she hadn't felt in forever... It's hard to ignore it. It's harder still to forget it.

She has no idea what the hell was supposed to happen after they got out. Maybe something. Maybe nothing at all. She hadn't thought it through. They had one goal - get back home - and that was as far as she ever allowed herself to go. Stakes would be different after that, for sure, but the dream world was overwhelming enough that it left very little space for future concerns. But Caroline can't help but be gripped by disappointment. Failure.

"Wait. Do you hear that?" Stefan says.

"Hear what?" Caroline asks, dispassionately, too stuck in her head to pay attention to anything else.

"That," Stefan nods towards Klaus.

It takes a second for her to understand what he means. It's a very faint, very low sound, almost impossible to hear unless you know what you're looking for. But once she gets it...

"What is it?" Bonnie asks, looking from Caroline to Stefan, trying to figure out what their vampire ears are capturing.

What _are_ their ears capturing? It's almost like...

"A heartbeat," Stefan offers.

Caroline didn't want to say it, didn't want to call it, but that's what she's hearing, isn't it? It's a heartbeat. Weak and vague, but definitely, definitely there.

"Was his heart beating before?" Bonnie again.

"No," Caroline says. "No, it wasn't."

"Does that mean he's coming back?" Stefan asks.

"I..." Caroline starts, stops, lets her voice drift off. She can't tell if the heartbeats are getting stronger or if it's her mind, eager to hold on to any sliver of hope it can, playing tricks on her. She lets her hand hover above Klaus' chest for a moment, and then she finally touches him, pressing her palm against his chest. _One. Two. Three. Four._ She counts the beats. And then the rhythm picks up right under her fingertips. _One, two, three, four_. _Onetwothreefour_.

There's the beginning of color on Klaus' cheeks, his lips going from bluish purple to pale, the darkened veins on his skin getting lighter and lighter until they're but a shadow.

"Holy shit," Stefan mutters.

Caroline's heart lurches inside her chest and she chokes out a laugh that is half a whimper. She wants to weep and punch him for making her think he was gone for good, to yell at him to wake up already so she'll know he's ok; she wants to press against him and breathe him in and hold him until he's himself again, deadly fangs and everything.

Caroline is raw with the need to touch Klaus, but something holds her back. A sense of accountability - and guilt.

And that source of that is clearly Bonnie's sharp gaze on her, waiting to see what she'll do.

Here, in the real world, Klaus is the devil and on the opposite side of the trench. He's the enemy.

"I'm gonna go get some blood bags," she announces all of a sudden, getting on her feet. "You still keep them in the freezer downstairs, right?"

"You're gonna give my stash to Klaus?" Stefan challenges, in that almost detached way of his of being miffed about things.

"He's going to wake up starving. There's barely any blood in his system right now. I had the hunger of the century when I came back. He's going to sink his teeth into the first thing he finds and then he's going out to feast on the rest of the city. Is that what you want?"

Stefan sighs and motions his hand in a _be my guest_ sort of way. "Thank you," Caroline says, and flees from the room as fast as she can before she ends up doing something she'll regret.

 

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

 

Bonnie thinks she's being feline, each step lighter than the last, but Caroline can hear her friend approaching as though she were an elephant - a very graceful one, but still an elephant. That's vampire hearing for you.

 _Damn it_ , she thinks, realizing she won't be getting the few precious minutes of privacy she was hoping for. All Caroline wanted was a second alone to let everything that just happened settle down and _breathe_ without everyone's scorching gazes burning on her with questions she's not ready to answer.

God, she's exhausted... Today has literally lasted a whole week.

But if there's one person whose scrutiny she's obliged to tolerate, that's Bonnie. After what she just did, risking her life and putting herself through unnecessary strain for no reason other than because Caroline asked, she gets benefits.

"They need to stock up on B+," she says conversationally when she senses Bonnie's presence behind her. "It's mostly just As here. Probably Damon. Quantity over quality. So typical."

"Caroline," Bonnie says, all seriousness. "Do we need to talk about this?"

"The blood? Don't worry, I won't take any of the good stuff to Klaus. He can get his own blood bags."

"No, I mean - _this_ ," Bonnie says, gesticulating. "Everything. What just happened."

"I don't know what you mean." Caroline schools her face into as neutral an expression as she can.

"What happened between you and Klaus while you were trapped together?" Bonnie demands, crossing her arms over her chest.

"Nothing. I mean... It was intense."

"Please, elaborate."

"It was... Very intense."

Bonnie's eyebrows snap together. "Caroline," she says as a warning.

"I don't know what you want me to say, Bonnie. A _lot_ happened. It was seven days. It was messy and complicated and Klaus was everything I had, basically. I wanted to kill him a lot of the time, but other times I -"

"Wanted to kiss him?" Bonnie completes for her, the skeptic look on her face and the criticism on her voice making it clear how she feels about it.

"No," Caroline says, slowly. "That's not... It was... A one-time thing."

"So you _did_ kiss him?"

"I... Maybe."

"Caroline!"

"You don't know what it was like, ok?! It was bad, Bonnie. I was scared. Things just... Happened."

" _Things_? Oh God, please don't tell me you -"

"I didn't, ok? It was just a kiss." _Or ten_. "It didn't mean anything."

"Are you sure?" Bonnie asks, her gaze firm but not unkind. "Because it's not what it felt like. The way you spoke to him, and the way you kissed him..." Caroline looks away from her friend, feeling her cheeks burning. She hopes to God she doesn't have enough blood in her system to be blushing. "And then you _mourned_ him when you thought he was gone. I get being upset because of whatever happened while you were trapped together, but _that_? It was something else."

Caroline sighs. "Your point?"

"Are you developing feelings for Klaus?"

Caroline scoffs. She lets out a laugh that's a bit too contrived to sound honest as her heart skips a couple of beats. "Don't be ridiculous, Bonnie. Feelings for Klaus? Seriously?"

"Is it?"

"Of course it is. We just... Bonded. That's all. We had a mutual understanding and I made him a promise which I didn't feel like breaking because he actually helped me when I needed. That's all."

"At some point, when things are calmer and we can sit down for two minutes without anybody dying or getting kidnapped into dream lands or whatever, I would like to hear everything about this adventure of yours. But right now, as your friend, I feel like I really have to warn you."

"Bonnie -"

"Just listen, ok? I get it. You went through some tough times. I don't know what I would do if I were in your place, so I'm really not judging you. But I _am_ worried. What I saw up there, when I took you into his head - it worried me. You have to remember who he is. Whatever happened between the two of you - it wasn't real. And it's all over now. You're back in the real world, where Klaus is _not our friend_."

Caroline swallows down hard, her eyes flickering away from Bonnie for a second, then back. "I know exactly who he is. You don't have to remind me."

"Are you sure? Because I will, if I have to. I'm saying this because I care about you. I don't want you to get hurt."

"I'm not going to get hurt, Bonnie."

" _Everyone_ who gets close to Klaus gets hurt, and this includes the family he claims to love."

Caroline's face remains carefully impassive, but her mind is reeling. There's an altogether different kind of weight settling inside of her, one she has no idea how to handle yet. Klaus is pure evil, he's ruined everyone's lives, repeatedly, sometimes just for the kicks. What Bonnie is saying is no news, just basic common sense. So why does it sting so much to hear it?

"I'm exhausted," she says. "Really done for, like I haven't slept for an entire week, which might be the case, actually. My head is a mess right now, I can't even think, and I feel _everything_ \- every sound, every breath, every shadow that moves, every rush of air that touches my skin. My senses are all heightened and it's driving me a little bit crazy, so - I don't know, Bonnie. I need to sleep all this off and feel like myself again because right now, I don't. So can we please just place everything that you saw under the _never happened_ category and forget about it?"

Bonnie's lips curve into a sheepish smile. "Of course," she says. "I'm sorry. I was just - doesn't matter. You're going to sleep this off and when you wake up, everything will be right with the world again. Well - not everything, there's still Silas to deal with, but the other part. The Klaus part."

Caroline gives her a mirthless smile. "Exactly."

There's a loud crash sound coming from the upper floor. Caroline flinches; to her ears, it sounded like something exploded.

Bonnie cocks an eyebrow, points a finger towards the ceiling. "This is what I was talking about."

_Shit, shit, shit._

Caroline flashes up the stairs, back to the living room, to find turned chairs and broken lamps - and, in the middle of everything, Klaus, twisting Stefan's arm behind his back in an odd angle, pulling on his hair to expose his neck. Caroline freezes. The fragile, sickened Klaus she got used to seeing after seven days in Silas Land is totally gone, replaced once more by the ruthless hybrid. His golden eyes sparkle with a rabid kind of hunger, mixed with ire.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?!" Bonnie yells, startling Caroline out of her shock.

Klaus stops, his teeth just inches from drilling into Stefan's skin, and lifts his head. His gaze immediately locks with Caroline's. Something shifts in his demeanor; his features become softer and the veins around his eyes disappear, the maniacal look giving place to something milder.

"Let go of him right now," Bonnie utters, that low and dangerous voice that means she's not up for negotiations.

Caroline can hear Klaus' heart hammering behind his ribcage - and she can also hear Stefan's, which means the vein on his neck is pulsing like mad right in front of Klaus' very hungry mouth. Vampire blood is not that tasty; it's cold, thick and bland - with the exception of Klaus' blood, which, just to go with the rest of him, tastes impossibly good, like having a rush of adrenaline injected straight into your system - but the hunger... It's painful and overwhelming and you can't think. Vampires become all beast when they go on too long without feeding. All their instincts are turned towards survival. Not that she doesn't believe Klaus would feed off of another vampire out of pure convenience if it came to it, but this time it's more than just that.

A creature as old as Klaus has perfect command over his needs, can go on for a while without feeding and only eat exactly as much as he wants, not a drop more. But Caroline doesn't think he's got a lot of control over what he's doing right Now. Silas bled him dry, sucked all his energy and then left him to die. She would've attacked the first thing that moved in front of her when she woke up if Stefan hadn't been there with a blood bag in hands. For Klaus it's probably ten times worse.

"Klaus," Caroline says when he doesn't move. "Let him go."

He makes a grimace, like trying to rein himself in, and then snaps Stefan's neck. Caroline flinches, her friend's body dropping to the floor with a heavy thud, but before she or Bonnie can even react, Klaus disappears, flashing out the front door.

Bonnie curses under her breath, rushing to Stefan's side.

Caroline approaches in tentative steps, crouching down beside him and taking a look at his bent arm. Klaus was not gentle. "Goddamnit," she mutters.

"Not our friend," Bonnie repeats, giving her a pointed and angry look.

And what the hell is she supposed to say to that, when Klaus has beat up and then tried to bite a guy who just helped save his life?

With a tired sigh, Caroline stands to her feet. "Will you stay with him, until he wakes up?"

"Where are you going?"

"Where do you think?

"Are you serious now? He just snapped Stefan's neck."

"Yeah, and Stefan's going to be very pissed but he's going to wake up. Klaus might snap other necks out there that will not be so lucky."

Bonnie swallows back her protest, huffing. "Fine. But remember what I said."

"Yeah," she says, looking at Stefan's temporarily lifeless form. "I know."

 

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

 

For a vampire who was bled dry and who hasn't fed in a while, Klaus seems to be boasting a hell of a lot of energy. Then again, he's no ordinary vampire, is he? Following him is nearly impossible, but Caroline manages to get a whiff of him here and there, what with her hunting senses being all heightened due to the lingering hunger. It's hard to concentrate with her head screaming for her to feed and her entire body overwhelmed by impulses and urges she seems to have lost her grip on after being human for a week, but Caroline does not hold the title of Best Vampire In Town for no reason. Her dogged determination keeps her on Klaus' track, and it leads her all the way to the town center - as she feared it would.

Klaus didn't go straight home to feed off of his own blood stash like any decent and moderately sensible person would. Of course not. _He's evil_ , Bonnie's voice keeps ringing in her head. Resisting the urge to feed on fresh, warm blood right out of someone's pulsing carotid is too much for someone who holds the average human life in such low esteem. Klaus doesn't care about killing for sport; why would he mind killing for food?

Caroline sharpens her hearing and keeps her eyes vigilant, accounting for every single person she can sense in the vicinity. Just to make it all worse, it's the end of a lovely warm afternoon in Mystic Falls, the last dying rays of sunshine coloring the town square in shades of gold and orange, which means there's tons of people outside, enjoying the day. A perfect invitation for a feast.

After a few minutes, she catches a whiff in the air, a metallic scent that sends a jolt right through her whole body. Blood.

Caroline rushes in the direction the scent takes her, all the way to the back entrance of The Grill.

Klaus has a girl pushed up against the wall, his face buried on the curve of her neck. Her lips move as though she was trying to scream, but no sound comes out of her lips.

"Klaus!" Caroline bellows, catching both his and the girl's attention. When he pulls away and turns to her, his eyes glowing an unearthly gold, burning with a kind of wanton delight, his mouth smeared in red, the smell of the girl's blood floods Caroline's entire being. She feels her fangs coming out, the veins around her eyes bulging - _God_ , she wants to lick that blood right off Klaus' chin and then sink her teeth on the other side of that girl's sweet, sweet neck.

Then she catches the girl's eyes, filled with terror and pain, staring at her with a muted plea. Her face is pale from the fear and the blood loss, but she's fighting to stay alive.

Caroline reins herself in, swallows down the hunger and sets her face to determination. Vampirism does not control her, even if she feels like a newborn one all over again.

"Step away from the girl, Klaus, _right now_ ," she commands, giving him a hard look.

Klaus considers her for a moment, licking his blood-smeared lips. For a moment Caroline thinks he's just going to dive right back into the girl's neck, but then he lets her go, taking a step back. The girl slides down to the ground as though she's got no bones in her body, shaking like a leaf in a storm.

Caroline crouches down beside her, biting on her own wrist and pressing it to her mouth. The girl looks up at her with wide-eyed fear again, but Caroline pets her head gently. "It's ok," she says. "You're ok. It'll make you feel better." She pulls her hand away and wipes some of the blood from the girl's face, waiting until the holes on her neck have disappeared before cupping her cheeks and meeting her gaze again. "You're going to be just fine. Get up, forget everything that happened here and go home. Oh, and come up with a good excuse for all the blood on your shirt, too."

The girl visibly relaxes, her expression smoothing into one of glazed over calm, and she nods. When she disappears from sight, Caroline exhales sharply.

"Thank you very much, love," Klaus finally speaks. "That was my dinner."

"Seriously?!" Caroline glares at him. "I did not risk my neck saving your life so you could go out and kill innocent people. Or Stefan, for that matter! What the hell is wrong with you? He _helped_ on your rescue mission and you repay by trying to bite him?"

"I was not aware of that," Klaus says. To his credit, he seems to be at least abashed by the revelation.

"So what? You were at his house, the least you could've done was _not_ attack him."

"I was hungry."

"Exactly. You would've left him dry, with nothing but werewolf venom in his system. He would've been dead in an hour. That is _not_ how you thank people for saving your life."

Klaus arches his eyebrows at her with an expression that says he's not really sorry. Caroline opens her mouth, ready to berate him again for his sheer disregard, but then it hits her - it's finally over. They've made it out of Silas' dream land and are safely back in the real world. A bit worse for wear, but alive and kicking - and biting unsuspecting necks.

Caroline's eyes rake up and down his body, making sure that he's still all in one piece. For a moment there, she really thought he hadn't made it, and it broke her in more ways than she allows herself to understand. When their eyes meet again, calmer now, the adrenalin finally starting to wear off, it's like everything else vanishes out of sight. Caroline is just glad to see him, _happy_ to have him seeing her back.

"Are you ok?" she asks, her tone much softer.

Klaus' lips ghost into the beginnings of a smile. "Never better."

Caroline lets out a bark of laughter. "That bad, huh?" He grins, flashing his dimples, and a feeling comes over Caroline. Affection, mixed with relief, rising until she's shaking with the need to touch him.

Bonnie's voice blasts loud in the back of her head again, _He's not our friend. He just tried to kill Stefan,_ reprimanding her for something she hasn't even done yet.

Caroline clears her throat, avoids the warmth in his gaze and takes a step back. "Well," she says. "I didn't save your life for you to go on a celebratory murder spree, so try not to kill anyone."

Klaus feigns a heavy sigh. "I suppose I do owe you."

Caroline scoffs. "That doesn't come even close to compensating me. It's just common sense."

"What would you like, then?"

She narrows her eyes at him. "I'm sure I'll think of something."

Klaus smirks, a glint of mischief in his eyes, and Caroline catches herself remembering a night in New Orleans that feels both like a million years ago and just yesterday.

Before she has a chance of giving in to certain underlying needs she'll probably regret, Caroline turns around and marches off.

"Caroline," he calls after her. She halts just before turning around the corner and looks back. Klaus doesn't say anything, but what she sees then is clear as daylight. Gratitude, deep and thrumming.

"Try not to get yourself kidnapped again, will you?" she says, a tiny grin dancing on her mouth. "Looks like I _still_ have a prom to plan, so I'll be too busy to save your ass."

If the sound of his laughter as she walks away puts a silly smile on her face and fills her chest with warmth - well, it doesn't have to mean anything. It's just a lasting effect of trauma. It'll wear off.

Right?

 

**TBC**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> \- I do not remember enough from TVD season 5 to remember what are the extents of Silas' powers exactly. I know his compulsion powers are stronger than those of the average vampire's, and that's basically it. The thing he does with Klaus and Caroline here was entirely taken from my head, based off of things that randomly happen throughout the show. Like Silas being able to manipulate Klaus' mind easily, and people being able to enter other people's minds, especially when they are in a weakened condition, and the dream manipulation thing where they can just build an entire illusion from scratch. I mixed that all up, added Silas' extreme super powers to the mix, and voila. If anything still doesn't make sense, it's because this is fanfiction and I do not write the actual show, so I get to make up my own stuff. Although I can almost safely guarantee that if they ever felt the need to power up some alternative reality kind of thing, they would not shy away from subverting their own canon to do it, so why shouldn't I, am I right?
> 
> \- This is the part of the story I was aiming to get to since the beginning (it only took me 11 chapters!). The point of writing this was to subvert the ship dynamics from the show by pushing Caroline into a situation where she has to confront her feelings and make decisions based on it. There's A LOT that I could write about this, but I'm not sure anybody is interested, but I won't. But yeah, this is where I was going with this all along. What happens next is consequence.
> 
> \- I'm rambling here, but it's because I was really looking forward to getting to this part of the story. It feels like reaching the culmination of things, although there are still some chapters to go before the finale. So I'm really looking forward to seeing what you guys think and how you feel about this part and what's to come next. So... thoughts? Please?
> 
> (If you're going to say you hate everything, please do so respectfully because I AM SOFT. k thanks)


	12. Feel It Still

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much to everyone who has been reading this story, especially to those of you who have been so very kind and sweet sending me messages or dropping me comments to let me know you're still enjoying it. :) It really means a lot to me!
> 
> We're finally reaching the final part of the story and this is where I take things back to canon. Remember the story started right after TVD 4x18, so this is where it goes back to. I have to warn you guys that there is yet MORE ANGST to come before the finale, but there's also some not-angsty moments that I hope you guys enjoy. :) Also, there might be some light discrepancies here regarding timelines, but just pretend it's all fine for the sake of ART, ok? Shhhh.
> 
> Finally, because I get these questions at least once every chapter even though I've answered it like a million times already: no, there will be no magical baby here. Hayley did happen, she just didn't get pregnant and I'm not bringing her back into the story. Ok? ok.
> 
> As always, I ask you guys to kindly forgive me for all the mistakes you will certainly find. And if you do like this chapter and are still curious to see where it'll go from here, let me know your thoughts! It makes this fic writer person here so very happy! :) I'm split between the two stories I'm trying to finish and I have to be honest, my dudes. I'm 100% motivated by reader response. (Btw, thank you to those of you who commented on my poll on which story I should focus on updating first!)
> 
> So thank you all from the bottom of my klaroliner heart and - hopefully - have a good read!

_I like my men like my coffee -_  
 _black-souled and bitter_  
 _with tongue-burning kisses_  
 _that leave you shaking,_  
 _grasping the half-filled mug_  
 _for dear life_  
 _until you’re left lonely,_  
 _but strangely awakened_  
 _to earth’s everyday tragedies._  
\- **Kristen Costello, “Sugar-Free”**

* * *

 

 

Caroline never thought that going back to her life - her real, vampire life - would be so hard.

She was expecting relief and ease, but there's barely any time for her to just appreciate the fact that she got away and no one died. The deep-down feelings are the first to come up; the difficult ones she knew were bound to surface at some point. She was just hoping it would take a while longer for it to hit, preferably once she'd had enough time to process everything that happened and not when it all still feels so raw.

It's like the floor opened up under her feet, sucked her into a black hole and spat her out somewhere else entirely. The sensation isn't that different from that of waking up in Silas' manipulation: everything looks familiar, but it just _feels_ different. Like something is missing. Caroline feels just as disconnected from reality now as she did then. The difference this time is that the problem does not with the outside world anymore. There's no magical fix. _She_ is the thing that is wrong. And that makes everything so much more complicated.

The first few days go by as though Caroline had stumbled upon someone else's life, with no idea on how to go about it. She feels distant. Detached. She often wonders if Klaus feels this strange aloofness as well, if once the adrenaline wore off and his heart stopped pounding, everything felt real again, but maybe a bit _too_ much, somehow different than it used to be.

And then of course she remembers she's not supposed to be thinking about Klaus. _Not friends, not friends, not friends._

Being back in the real world means, among many other things, not getting in touch with Klaus. He isn't someone she checks in with or texts to know how he's doing, what he's been up to. And they definitely, definitely do not have deep conversations where she bares out her soul and talks about all the fresh set of fears and insecurities that being a human for a week in some psycho's illusion has harbored inside of her.

That's in the past now. And, technically, it wasn't even real. Because out here, in the real world, _they are not friends_.

 _Goddamnit_. It's hard to have to remind herself of that every ten minutes. It's even harder to have to slap her own hand to put down the time whenever she automatically takes it out, ready to text him whenever anything that makes her flip out happens - and, trust her, she's been flipping out _a lot_.

Caroline thinks this might be one of those situations where it would be wise to find herself a _sponsor_ , like Klaus is a drug and she's an addict. Right now would be the withdrawal phase, the one where she feels like calling someone for counseling and cries-for-help every hour or so. But who is she going to call? Bonnie, who's just gonna look at her like she's a traitor to her people? Stefan, who's up to his neck with Elena issues? _Matt_ , who'd likely spit on her face if he knew she's having weird _cravings_ for the guy who got his best friend to leave town for good?

She's pretty much on her own here, trying to get herself clean of impure thoughts and desperate need for a fix.

Planning the prom she was certain she'd missed is both heartwarming and bittersweet. She's glad she'll get a second chance at this, it really is an important moment for her and it means a lot to be - hopefully - surrounded by her best friends as they all celebrate the fact they're miraculously still alive to finish high school. There will be a hundred other people there, but it's _her_ prom more than anyone else's, doesn't matter what anyone says. Except... Every second of every day she spends overseeing prom stuff is a reminder of the prom she already had, and how absolutely _perfect_ it was. Everything she was excited about before now just seems dull and outdated in comparison. Yet another thing Klaus has ruined for her. She's just not entirely sure it was for the worse this time.

The rest of the prom committee thought she was dead when she didn't show up for the meeting - the day before or a week ago, depending on the point of view. They ask her a thousand times if she's ok, want to know why she's suddenly so indifferent when she had been so full of energy and ideas just few short days ago. How can she explain to these poor mortal souls that her life has so drastically changed in the space of twenty four hours? The world has spun out of its axis, ripped itself into pieces and stitched itself back together, spinning a little different than before, and they have no idea. They don't know shit. No one does. Not even her friends. The only person who'd be able to look at her and _understand_ is the one person she cannot come anywhere near.

_Not friends, not friends, not friends._

After two whole day of this at school, of having people looking at her like she's being a bitch for no reason, Caroline decides that she's had enough. So she does the one thing she's guaranteed to succeed at: she takes the helm of the ship again and starts planning a prom for the ages.

Her thoughts are screaming in her head and she's far from being ok, but this is the kind of thing she can do braindead, so that's a relief. Her colleagues look at her like she's completely lost it when she shows up at their next meeting with a huge binder filled with ideas. "I think we need a theme," she announces.

"We already have one," Dana says, arms crossed over her chest. "Our theme is _thank God we're out of this goddamn town_."

Caroline rolls her eyes at her. "You're so narrow-minded sometimes, Dana. Don't you want to leave a mark? Even if you never set foot in Mystic Falls again - which, by the way, I doubt most of you will be going anywhere - don't you want to know that you'll be remembered? We should have a prom that will set the bar for every class that comes after ours. Not just your regular dance at the gymnasium. I want _big_. I want _epic_." Her eyes sparkle with excitement as she paces around and explains her vision. In her mind, all she sees is the courtyard of a certain compound in New Orleans, filled with flowers and fairy lights. That's what she has to beat. Her real prom _has_ to be greater than the fake one, otherwise she'll never get over that warm, inconvenient feeling in her chest. "Pictures of You."

"What?" Alice Fell asks, frowning.

"Pictures of You," Caroline echoes in a clipped tone, like she's talking to an audience of hearing-impaired people. "It's the theme. We'll have photographs of everyone in our class. It can be social media photos or from the school archives, from our previous dances and charities and the football matches and cheerleading competitions. I'll talk to Mrs. Anders and ask for her help with that. And we can have them all displayed on the outside, forming a path to the prom venue, reminding us of our journey here."

"You mean like in the hallway outside the gym?" Alice asks.

"Oh, no. Forget the gym. We're moving this party elsewhere. I think I have just the place. The city council used to hold some meetings at this place right by the wood, I went to lot of events there with my mom. I think I can get them to let us use it for free." _Compel them to let us use it for free_ , more likely. "It'll be _gorgeous_."

"Ok," Dana drawls. "And who's going to get all that done? Gather the photographs, have them printed -"

"Not printed. Are you kidding me? This is the 21st century, Dana. We need screens. Big ones."

Dana scoffs, exchanges a weird glance with Alice. "Are you drunk, Caroline? Prom is this _Friday_. How the hell are we supposed to have all this done in just a few days?"

"Yeah, and we've pretty much butchered our entire budget on the prom you don't wanna have anymore. How are we going to afford _screens_?" Alice adds.

Caroline sighs and very calmly puts down her binder. She looks at her colleagues, the ones seeming too shocked to produce an opinion, and Dana and Alice, who are frankly testing her patience and begging her to break her no compelling colleagues unless it's a life or death situation rule. She puts on her best _I know you're struggling, but I'm going to say this in a way you can understand_ smile and says, "Have you met me, Dana?"

 

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

 

Even with Caroline's substantial talents - not to mention her facilitating otherworldly abilities -, pulling off _A Prom For The Ages_ with less than a week to go proves to be quite the test. She's very much aware that she's everyone's least favorite person at the moment and that her chances of ever being prom queen are dead and buried under seven layers of grudge, if the looks she keeps getting are any indication. But she's also confident that they'll be thanking her later, even if they never admit it out loud.

It's a bold move, and one that, she'll grant, has a good chance of coming back to bite her in the ass. Try as she might, she really, really can't pull this off on her own and is totally dependent upon other people's half-assed enthusiasm. But it's something she desperately needed to do in order to feel like herself again. A challenge. People to boss around. An epic party to plan. The moment she gets her planner out and starts running from one side to the other coordinating groups, talking to suppliers, convincing the school to get on board with her sudden bout of megalomania - that's when Caroline finally feels back in her element.

She likes having order and symbolism and neatly defined patterns within the madness that is the supernatural world. What other people perceive as futility and vanity on her part is actually a coping mechanism. It's why she's so good at being a vampire. Being a control freak has saved Caroline from herself. She's always been awesome at compartmentalizing, and becoming a vampire blew that out of proportions. Her lists and perfectly outlined strategies and contingency plans are where Caroline takes refuge when things get too hard - so she won't turn off her humanity and set fire to her own house or go on a murder spree, ripping bodies to pieces and then writing names on walls. Each to their own coping mechanisms.

She exercises the control she needs to keep herself in check by controlling the things that she can on the outside, coordinating tasks and deadlines and making sure everyone is in synch. It takes the edge off, makes her relax - even when she's in the middle of a rant because freaking Dana can't even get the goddamn flowers order right.

"Can you read, Dana?" she's shouting into her phone as she enters the Grill. "It says _white_ flowers. So no, it can't be red, and it can't be pink. It's _white_. I don't care if they say they don't have it, you stare them down until they give you what you want. Honestly, have you learned nothing?! Jesus!"

Caroline hangs up, stabbing the cell phone with her finger and huffing out in annoyance. But then she takes a deep breath and smiles to herself.

As much as she'd rather have her friends helping out, it might actually be better that she's left with the incompetent humans. Caroline doesn't have a single moment of peace, which means she has no time to allow herself to think about the really important things, like how Elena still doesn't have her humanity back, or how Silas is still out there running his evil plan and probably very angry at her, or how deep down she knows she's only doing all this so she won't be thinking about Klaus all the goddamn time.

Denial is productivity's best friend, it seems.

"Hey, Matt," she says, taking a seat by the bar. It's early afternoon and she should probably have stuck around school to make sure no one would be slacking off with so much work to do - which she's pretty sure is exactly what they've been doing since she left the grounds -, but she figured she a break was needed so she wouldn't end up accidentally killing someone.

Besides, it's good to see a familiar face she actually likes for a change.

Before she can open her mouth to ask Matt whether he's already picked a tux or if she should add that to her list of to-do things as well, considering he's going to be her date - and Bonnie's, for that matter - to the prom, Matt leans over the counter and whispers conspiratorially, in a tone that is way too serious for 3pm, "What's going on?"

Caroline blinks, eyebrows bunched in confusion. "What do you mean?" she whispers back, not really sure why Matt's being all secretive since the bar looks pretty much empty.

"Did something happen?"

"Should I know what you're talking about? Is this about prom? What did Dana do now? Oh, God, I'm gonna _kill_ -"

"Prom? No." Matt pulls away slightly and nods towards the back of the bar. Caroline turns, following his eyes all the way to a secluded booth close to the window. Klaus, in the company of a half-empty bottle of bourbon, cutting a lonesome figure and staring right back at her.

He flashes her a sharp, dark smile, a wild glint in his gaze that she can't really read, but there's something dejected about the drop of his shoulders. He looks uncomfortable, and Caroline can see reflected on him the same exhaustion and sorrow she's been stricken with since returning from Silas Land.

She swallows hard, cringing at both her traitorous heart, pounding against her ribcage like it's trying to escape, and how glad she is to see him. Klaus Mikaelson represents a perfect paradox for her, being at once the person in the entire universe that Caroline most wants to and least wants to see.

And she'd been so diligent in avoiding him for the past couple of days... So disciplined in not even sending him a text when all she wanted to do was talk to him, ask if he was feeling as out of sorts as she was. Caroline decided to test the limits of her multitasking abilities by burying herself in an insane amount of work with the sole purpose of erasing Klaus from her mind, and then there he is, as though summoned by the screaming thoughts she's been smothering with all her might. The Grill was supposed to be a safe place, damn it.

"What's up with that?" Matt asks.

"I don't know," she answers, breaking eye contact and turning back to her friend. "How long has he been there?"

"Long. He was already here when I started my shift. Hasn't said a single word. Just snaps his fingers like a douchebag when he's done with a bottle. Something's up, right? That's not normal."

"No, it's not," she mutters, mostly to herself.

Matt looks at her expectantly, waiting for more information, but Caroline decides enough people are aware of her misguided adventures in Silas Land. He's her friend, but if Bonnie can't understand how that has affected her, then Matt certainly won't either. He is living in the house that has been recently emptied by one of Klaus' victims, after all.

She never thought that being back home would feel so lonely.

Caroline considers the situation for a beat and, reaching a decision that she's pretty certain she'll regret later, sets her face to determination. "Give me a beer," she tells Matt.

He glares. "It's the middle of the afternoon, Care. Do you want me to get fired?"

"You're not even supposed to work at a bar, if we're gonna be like that. We're _always_ drinking."

"Yes, when it's late and dark and you can pass for older, not when your mother can walk in at any second. She works right next door."

"Matt, if my mother walks in and sees me talking to Klaus, the beer is gonna be the least of her concerns, trust me."

Matt opens his mouth to retort, but then seems to realize that she's got a point. Shaking his head, he goes to the fridge and brings her a Budweiser. "If anyone asks -"

"I'll put it on Klaus' tally of unscrupulous misdemeanors, don't worry."

Caroline draws a sharp breath in a manner she hopes is discreet as she makes her way to Klaus' isolated table. This is a bad idea, she knows. It doesn't feel _safe_ for her to be talking to him when her nerves are still so jangled and her feelings are all over the place. She's a master of self-control, but Klaus has a way of unsettling her that is just plain annoying - and also amazing, but she'd rather not think about that part for obvious reasons.

She slides into the seat right across from him, a mask of glee perfectly set into place, and says, with an easy, practiced flow to her voice, "Day drinking is still frowned upon in the 21st century. People are starting to talk."

That earns her a smile that seems to light up Klaus' gloomy face a little. "Has teenage drinking suddenly become legal, by any chance?" he nods towards her beer.

"Oh, this? This is nothing. It's called strategy. We come to the bar in the afternoon while all the responsible adults are occupied elsewhere, with only the sad drunkards to witness our transgressions. Besides, it's only beer. You, I'm told, have made your way through half the Grill's heavy liquor storage."

He looks down at his glass. "A lot of catching up to do."

"You do realize that drowning yourself in a glass isn't going to make anything better, right?"

"I don't drink to make anything better, love."

Caroline is quiet for a moment, the lighthearted mood shifting all of a sudden. "Are you ok?"

Klaus smirks, but it does not meet his eyes. "Never better."

Caroline scoffs. "You know, have you ever considered taking some drama classes? You need to work on your lying. Evil overlords are expected to be more convincing than that."

"Who says I'm lying?"

"I could see the dark clouds hovering above your head all the way from the bar. Even Matt could see it, and he thinks you're nothing _but_ dark clouds."

Klaus sends an annoyed glance towards the bar. "Your quarterback friend should attain himself to his work and gossip less if he fancies himself a tip. The service at this bar is appalling."

Caroline gives him an eye-roll. Trust Klaus to be snobbish even when he's acting like a sad bastard at a small town's local bar. She takes a long swig from her beer. "Why are you throwing yourself a one-man pity party? Shouldn't you be thrilled to be back in your hybrid form?"

"I've done my celebrations. Had an incredible feast last night. All AB+s, my favorite."

Caroline glares. "What did I say about not murdering innocent people?"

"Don't worry, love," he says, dismissively. "No one died. Well... Maybe one or two. I'm sure they won't be missed."

"Klaus!" she scolds.

"I know how to play with my food, Caroline. A bit severely injured, perhaps, but all still alive last I checked."

She shakes her head reprovingly. "So I take it I'm not the only one having a hard time adjusting. I thought it would be easy-peasy getting back to normal, but... It's like my head got too used to being human again. Everything is..."

"Heightened," he finishes for her.

"Like being new again. I feel _everything_. The hunger. The moods. The -" Caroline stops herself before she gets to the oversharing part, but Klaus' little grin tells her he knows exactly what she means. She clears he throat, shifts a little uncomfortably in her place, and continues. "If I wasn't so good at being a vampire, bodies would be piling up already."

"How have you been occupying yourself to take the edge off?"

"Raiding the Salvatores' blood stash. Bossing people around. The usual," she shrugs. "What about you? Other than drinking like an alcoholic, of course. Any evil deeds to rekindle the bonds with your inner psycho?"

"Not yet, but now that you've mentioned..." He starts looking around the nearly empty bar, a wolfish look in his eyes. "Let's see what we've got here."

Caroline leans over the table, places a finger under his chin and turns his face back to her. "Don't even think about it," she warns.

The playfulness in Klaus completely dissipates when he meets her gaze, an altogether different kind of predatory glint in his eyes. Caroline feels a spark going through her and pulls her hand away, hides it under the table, the tips of her fingers burning hot where she just touched him. She has no idea why she just did that. She doesn't just _touch_ Klaus, not with that sort of intimacy. It's not a thing that happens. But it felt so natural, so ordinary...

 _Real world, Caroline. This is the real world. We do not hold Klaus' face or touch him out of nowhere in the real world_.

The look Klaus sends her between his eyelashes makes Caroline's heart skip a beat. It's _intense_ , his dark eyes sparkling with such clear want that she cannot bear to look back. Whenever he's got his eyes on her, all of Caroline's certainties and ironclad resolve grow vague and foolish. She feels found out, exposed. Klaus doesn't just look at her; it's like he can see _into_ her, and that always makes her shiver with some kind of complicated emotion she's not entirely sure she wants to identify.

Her phone beeps in her bag, offering her a much welcome distraction from the suggestion in Klaus' eyes and the fact his lips have gone back to their full glory now that he's no longer a sickly, dying human.

It's a text from Dana.

Caroline lets out a pained groan. "Oh my God! This is unbelievable!"

"What are the prodigal brothers up to now?" Klaus asks, sipping from his drink again.

"I wish it was them. It's the prom committee. I step out for one second and it's the apocalypse. I have to do _everything_ myself. Why do I even have a committee? I clearly can't count on them, so I might as well just fire everyone and spare myself the stress of having to coordinate a bunch of incompetent idiots who will gladly settle for mediocre when they could strive for greatness. These are high school seniors who cannot, for the love of everything that is holy and pure in this world, follow simple, straightforward and carefully detailed plans that I sent to their e-mails just this morning. How the hell are they even graduating when they can't freaking read?!" Caroline blurts out almost in one breath.

Klaus bursts into laughter, leaving her momentarily confused. She didn't even realize she'd launched into a full-on rant, it just... spilled. It's weird how natural talking to him has suddenly become. The sound of his laughter takes her straight back to New Orleans.

Still, she glares.

"Is my ordeal amusing to you?"

"I'm sorry, love," he says, flashing his dimples. "But it appears you're not having a hard time at all falling back into old patterns."

Caroline tries to hold on to her indignation and keep her expression unflappable, but it only lasts for a second before she snorts and starts laughing.

"Sorry to interrupt," Matt says, suddenly planted next to their table.

Caroline immediately swallows down the laughter, sitting up straighter. "You're not interrupting," she says, noticing the hard look on Matt's face. "What's up?"

"Can I have a word?"

"Yes, of course."

Caroline steals a quick glance at Klaus before following Matt to the men's bathroom. He checks to make sure they're alone, then locks the door behind them and turns on the water faucet.

"What is it?" she asks, very confused.

"You tell me," Matt says, folding his arms across his chest. "Why won't you tell me what the plan is?"

"Plan?"

"Look, Caroline. I understand you guys try to keep me out of the loop because I'm human, but I'm not an idiot. When you bring an Original into my work place, the least you can do is let me know what's going on. I deserve to know."

"Matt, I don't -"

"You're distracting him, aren't you? I wanna know why. Is it Elena?"

Caroline looks at the water running, then lets out a weary sigh. "The water doesn't work," she says.

"What?"

"He's an Original vampire _and_ a werewolf. His hearing is better than a normal vampire's."

Matt's eyes widens in shock. Had this really been a part of a plan, he would've just ruined everything. "Shit," he mutters, brushing past Caroline and unlocking the door.

Caroline half expected to see Klaus planted behind the door, ready to grab Matt by the neck and smash him against a wall or demand explanations from Caroline, but when they go back to the bar, Klaus is nowhere to be found.

"Damn it," she hisses. "Nice one, Matt. He heard everything you said and now he thinks we're out to get him again."

"Where did he go?"

"How the hell should I know?" She rubs a hand across her face, trying to think. The last thing Caroline needs right now is for Klaus to be angry at her. They have way too many enemies to fight as it is. Having Originals breathing down their necks again will help absolutely no one. "There is no plan, Matt," she tells her friend in a slow, measured tone. "I wasn't distracting him."

"Then what the hell was that all about?"

"It was... Nothing. I was just asking him about - You know what? It doesn't matter. I have to go." Before she leaves, though, Caroline turns around, pointing a demanding finger to her very lost friend. "Do _not_ tell anyone about this. There is way too much on my plate already. I have a prom to make happen and no time to scheme."

Caroline steps out of the Grill, fruitlessly checking the street for signs of a familiar SUV.

Now where would a pissed off Klaus go to?

 

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

 

Caroline sags with relief when she sees Klaus' car parked outside his mansion. She hasn't a clue _why_ she'd be relieved over this simple fact, but she does. What did she think he was going to do? Go straight to Stefan and finish what he started when he woke up from Silas' dream? Snap Bonnie's neck? Or maybe rip out Elena's heart for no reason other than to punish them for conspiring against him.

Klaus' moods are erratic at best, but for some reason she did not feel like he was in a particularly vindictive murderous spell. He seemed almost... mild. Klaus' temper is a bit like a time bomb, always ready to blow up, but if Caroline had to hazard a guess, she'd say the time he spent in Silas' manipulation has left him just as shaken as her. Maybe more. She doesn't know exactly what it was like for him to be alone there for more than twenty days, although it's not hard to imagine. If he felt even a third of the panic she did when she thought he was gone... Well.

With Silas' threat looming over them, it's probably for the best that they avoid getting on Klaus' bad side right now. She's doing a good thing, a favor to them all, she tells herself as she walks to his doorstep. But the truth is, the idea of him thinking that she's turned on him yet again bothers Caroline to no end.

He should know there's nothing going on. Just in case.

Last time she was here, they were about to leave to New Orleans, her mother had come along to lecture Klaus on how he should respect her more and she had been absolutely livid. At the time, all she wanted was to dig herself into a hole on the ground; now the memory brings a smile to her face. Caroline can't imagine he has ever gotten the boyfriend speech from a concerned parent in his life, _ever_. Give it a few more years and that's certainly going to be a story she'll be telling other people for the laughs. _That one time my fake mother pointed a finger to Klaus Mikaelson's face and told him he should let her daughter finish high school in peace or she'd withdraw her support for the relationship and he answered with a Yes, Ma'am._

Caroline considers just going in, but she feels oddly weird about it all of a sudden, so she rings the bell instead and waits for him to come to the door. When a minute goes by and nothing happens, she starts ringing it like a bitter child waiting for candy on Halloween.

"Would you stop that?" he roars as he finally pulls the door, a glass of bourbon already in his hand. "Have you forgotten how doors work by any chance?"

"I was being polite and ringing the bell."

"Since when have you lot started waiting to be formally invited in?"

"Since now."

Klaus scoffs. "Convenient."

He leaves the door open and walks back inside, disappearing across the hall. "I'm gonna take that as a please, come in," she bellows before following him inside and shutting the door.

She finds him sprawled on his couch, a dour look on his face and a pout on his lips.

"Why did you leave?" Caroline asks.

"Why did you follow?" he retorts.

"I asked first."

Klaus huffs out in annoyance, drinks almost half of his glass at once.

"I had to come and check for any missing belongings or set-ups, didn't I? That is usually what happens when you show up to keep me distracted. Someone with no sense of boundaries crashes into my house _uninvited_ and the end result is almost always less than favorable to me."

Caroline lets her shoulders sag. Just as she suspected... "Matt was suspicious because you'd been there all day, and then I showed up. He thought there was something going on, but he pulled that completely out of his own head. There' _nothing_ going on, Klaus."

Klaus regards her suspiciously. "And you came all the way here just to tell me that?"

"Well... Yes."

"Why?"

"Because," Caroline stutters. "Because it's the wrong idea. I wanted to undo the misunderstanding before you decided to retaliate."

"Who says I was going to?"

"You left, and now you're all sullen."

"I'm not sullen."

"Really? Then what is all _that_ about?" Caroline asks, gesticulating towards him.

Klaus shrugs dismissively. "Not everything is about you, sweetheart."

"Way to dodge a question."

Klaus huffs like he's feigning irritation, but a tiny grin, awkward and amused, breaks way onto his lips, and Caroline smiles in triumph.

Something in the atmosphere, which had been semi-hostile and loaded with mistrust, changes as they fall back into familiar territory. Caroline feels a weight lifting off her shoulders as Klaus finally seems to relax a little, in spite of all his unwillingness. It's in his hybrid nature to be not only skeptical to the point of paranoia at all times, but also very reactive. It's annoying, but it's a probably a good sign that he's acting like himself again, although Caroline wouldn't mind if he could preserve a thing or two from his human version.

Right before they both got sucked into Silas' manipulation, Klaus had talked about them being friends, when she was summoned to his house to get an imaginary splinter out of his back and they'd ended up snarling at each other's faces, as per usual. She didn't do anything intentionally, but it worked, and he was grateful anyway. With everything that happened after, Caroline can't help but feel like they've reached an understanding about what it takes for them to be able to establish a relationship - _any_ kind of relationship - and it's totally possible that she'll change her mind in a little while; this is Klaus, after all, and he's nothing short of complicated. Right now, however, she thinks she might want to keep that pact of theirs going. If anything, it might save a few lives.

She had a taste of it back when they went on that date together, but there was no way Caroline could've known for sure before now - before Silas - that when things are good between them, there's an easiness which is like nothing she has with anyone else in her life. And she couldn't have known because things had _never_ been good. There's this flow between them, colored by irony, which comes from letting go of old grudges and just enjoying the moment.

After doing her fair share of avoiding him for the last few days, Caroline realizes how much she has missed this weird dynamic of theirs. Their relationship is more unstable and has more drawbacks than any other she's ever experienced, but, precisely because of that, it's also more honest and straightforward.

Caroline doesn't have to pretend when she's around Klaus, she doesn't even have to be _nice_ to him, do things his way just to please him. If he does anything that annoys or infuriates her, she doesn't have to cut him slacks or excuse his wrongdoings. With everyone else, she feels like she's constantly walking on eggshells - whenever she does dare to be honest, someone always gets their feelings hurt and she somehow becomes the bad guy. _Nice one, Caroline. Good to know I have your support, Caroline. Jeez, thanks for the pep talk, Caroline._ She hears that from everyone. Elena, Tyler, even Bonnie. But not Klaus. Well, he does get unusually butthurt for someone with as much conviction in his own evil doings as he has, but the thing about their, well, _thing_ , is that it has never been about circumlocution or subtlety. Caroline's been nothing short of brutally honest with him from day one - even before she thought it was somewhat safe to be - and although she's been snarled at more than a few times because of it, it hasn't pushed him away. Quite the opposite.

"Can I offer you something stronger than a beer?" Klaus asks, as though to seal the peace. "No adults prying eyes. It's all drunkards around here."

Caroline chuckles. "Ok," she says, feeling her stomach roil a little.

This, the civil conversation and good, friendly coexistence, makes her antsy. Caroline thought she could brush Klaus off like a crumb. But she wouldn't be here right now if a crumb was all he was, would she?

Klaus has taken all the clarity Caroline thought she had and twisted it around in such a way that she no longer knows what she wants. And that's... potentially problematic, to say the least. _Dangerous_. Not to mention it drives her _insane_.

Caroline Forbes always knows what she wants, that defines her. Except when it comes to Klaus. That's where all the lines get blurred.

"There you go, love," he says, offering her a glass of the same bourbon he's having.

"Is that all you ever drink?"

"I'm a creature of habits. Would you prefer mimosas?" he asks.

"Are you making fun of me?"

"Not at all, love."

"You better not. Because we both know which of us is the lightweight," she says, arching her eyebrows.

"Nonsense."

"Lightweight," she mutters, taking a draught of her drink. "For the record, I prefer margaritas."

Klaus smirks. "Noted."

They appreciate their drinks in companionable silence for a while - Caroline has to admit that it's _really_ good stuff, which only makes her wonder why he'd go drink at the Grill when he's got that kind of thing at his place, and then figures that it's probably for the best that she doesn't know, and decides not to ask.

"I have a feeling I'd be in for one of the sheriff's talks if she knew I'm giving alcohol to her daughter on a school night," Klaus says, smiling. "Can't let her senior year go to waste and whatnot."

"My _real_ mother has long come to terms with the fact that her daughter has much worse problems than drinking. At this point, she'd probably be glad if I were an eighteen years old alcoholic instead of a vampire. I'm guessing she'd be more concerned with me being at your house than with the drink."

Klaus' grin doesn't falter, but he looks away. "Of course. No dutiful mother wants their precious child socializing with the enemy."

"I don't know," Caroline says wistfully. "I kind of miss the old days when a few original vampires were the worst thing we had to deal with. I feel like we got pretty good at it. We could reason with Elijah, lure Rebekah into traps by being as heartless as she is, and -"

"Distract me with your gold locks," he finishes for her, a flicker of humor in his blue eyes.

Caroline's lips curl with amusement. "Can't help if you always fell for it hook, line and sinker."

"Sorry to disappoint you, love, but you're not exactly a master of subtlety. I always knew you were up to something, I was merely willing to turn a blind eye on your machinations for a few hours of having agreeable conversations with you where you pretended to be interested."

His voice betrays no sarcasm, no affection whatsoever. The smile is gone, replaced by a kind of solemnity that unbalances Caroline. A feeling comes over her all of a sudden, and she becomes painfully aware of how short the distance between them is. They are, for the first time since returning from Silas' dream, effectively entering each other's magnetic fields - and the pull is stronger than ever.

Caroline lifts the glass back to her lips, takes a long gulp, the liquid burning down her throat as she swallows too much, too fast. "Do you want to know a secret?" she asks. "I wasn't always pretending."

Confusion clouds Klaus' handsome face, but it lasts only a second before something flickers across his eyes, something raw and predatory. Caroline recognizes it, because she's seen it before. She feels a peculiar friction run down her spine.

It drives her mad. Klaus drives her mad. The lust and desire and maybe even a little bit of admiration for her all ricochet around her brain, and it seems that, lately, that's the default place her mind goes to whenever she slows down. She wants to speak to him, see him, is _itching_ with how much she wants to touch him, and that's just _insane_ because Klaus is a crazy murderer who killed a shit ton of people and Caroline desperately wants to kiss him.

Her heart flutters with the thrill of what could happen next. She feels like she should be panicking or unsettled or at the very least doing an inhuman effort to will this feeling away, but she isn't. All she's got is this flutter and the damn butterflies in her stomach. She knew it was a bad idea to go talk to Klaus at the Grill, just as she knows it was a bad idea to follow him home, of all places. A worse idea. _This is the real world_ , she tells herself. Whatever happens, there will be consequences. Just being here right now is enough to earn her more than a few hard looks.

Caroline used to think that she had a great understanding of right and wrong, and that this situation here should be easily stored into the _wrong_ box, filed under _irrational and out of bounds_. But something's changed. Between the moment Klaus took her hand as they lied together side by side on the dirty floor of the Mikaelson compound, confessing their fears to each other, and the moment he saw her walking into the courtyard, wearing the dress he'd chosen for her prom, something snapped. She thought coming home would fix it, that it would all fall back into place as life went back to being exactly as it was before, but that's not what's happened. And perhaps it's time she acknowledges that.

For a few agonizing seconds, everything seems on hold. All Caroline can hear is the sound of her own racing heart. She has no idea what will happen if they cross that impossible space between them - if the world will stop turning, or if they'll catch fire. But, more importantly, Caroline finds that she doesn't really care.

She doesn't know who crosses the line first - if it's her or if it's Klaus, or maybe both of them at the same time - but something clicks and suddenly the cautious, deliberate distance between them is gone. Their mouths clash together, and Caroline wraps her arms around Klaus' neck as though holding on to dear life, pressing herself flush against him.

This doesn't feel new, even though it is, for all intents and purposes. There's an edge here that is different from Silas' dream land, something sharper and more desperate. But the sensation is pretty much the same. When Klaus kisses her, it completely erases the memory of every kiss that's come before. He's impatient, but deliberate. Possessive, but not selfish. Dancing on the edge of losing control. Caroline imagines he paints exactly the same way he kisses - passionate and beautiful and oh so deftly.

And he is obviously getting the wrong impression here, sliding his hands from her shoulders, down to the side of her hips, so tight, fingers digging into her flesh, that there'd be bruises tomorrow if she couldn't heal so quick. She knows she'll still be able to feel his touch like burn marks though, and the idea makes her moan against his lips, but she has _got_ to let go and explain to Klaus all the reasons why this is a terrible, terrible idea and it can never happen again.

Klaus catches her lower lip between his teeth and she pulls a little too hard at his hair and none of this is getting anything back to normal, but - oh, who the hell is she kidding?

Nothing is _ever_ normal in Mystic Falls. Everyone makes stupid decisions all the time and blame it on temporary insanity or witchcraft or any number of other extremely convenient excuses at their disposal. It's one of the perks, in the middle of many, many downsides, of living in this place. They never run out of excuses. Besides - at this point, can anyone really point fingers at her? When Elena has fallen in love with Damon and both him _and_ Stefan have slept with Rebekah?

So this is a bad idea. Great. It doesn't matter. They've all done terrible things, some of them have done _worse_. Just because Klaus' mouth is trying to devour hers and she is making no effort whatsoever to stop him, it doesn't make her a bad person. The worst that can happen is, come tomorrow, she'll find it impossible to look Klaus in the eye and things will get really, really weird for a while, but that's also ok, because it's not like things aren't awkward already.

They start stumbling their way back, no idea where they're heading, only that they need a surface of some sort, for better support, but they end up hitting a wall. Klaus presses her slowly and deliberately against it, one of his legs parting hers and pressing up. She almost knocks down a picture from the wall.

"Careful, love," he speaks against her mouth. "Don't ruin the art."

"Screw the art," she replies, voice hoarse and breathless.

She attacks him again, her hands grabbing the hem of his Henley's and pulling it up until he lifts his arms to allow her to remove it. Before she can dive right in for another kiss, her fingers desperate to fell more skin, Klaus pulls away.

His eyes are sparkling with arousal, but oddly solemn for the situation.

"What?"

He hesitates. "Are you sure?"

"Sure of what?" It's such a stupid question it takes a second for her to understand. When she does, she snorts. "Are you serious now?"

"You're drunk."

" _You're_ drunk."

"Not even close. I'm not a lightweight anymore, I know exactly what I'm doing. Question is... Do you?"

Caroline cannot remember a guy ever putting a halt to a fiercely hot make out session to ask whether she's _sure_. _Ever_. If anything, they push harder just to guarantee she won't back out. Klaus' concern for her mental state would be sweet, if only she wasn't so goddamn horny.

"Klaus," she says, cupping his face with both her hands. "I'm not even tipsy. Stop kissing me again and I swear to God."

He awards her with a deliciously devilish smile that she remembers so well from their days in New Orleans, his eyes flashing gold before he slams his mouth against hers, and they finally, _finally_ , lose themselves in the heat.

 _About freaking time_ , says a tiny voice in the back of Caroline's head.

She can't really disagree.

**TBC**


	13. Truth Hurts

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There's a _tiny little bit_ of smut in this chapter, so just a heads up. A lot of people have asking me for smut, but unfortunately that's all the smut you'll get, guys. It's really not my forte, I'm not a very good smut writer, so this is get.
> 
> There are some VERY IMPORTANT NOTES at the bottom! Please, don't skip them when you're done with this chapter, if you make it to the end.
> 
> Thank you SO. MUCH. to everyone who has been reading and commenting on this story! Your support has been fantastic! It makes me truly happy and more excited about finally wrapping up my first ever KC fanfic. I really wouldn't have come this far without your support! :) 
> 
> As always, I ask you to forgive my many mistakes, my probably crappy smut-writing skills and that you let me know what you think! I'm always eager to learn your thoughts! Your feedback make this cracky fic writer very happy! Thanks for reading! :)

_Let him know that you know best_  
_Cause after all, you do know best_  
_Try to slip past his defense_  
_Without granting innocence_  
_Lay down a list of what is wrong_  
_The things you've told him all along_  
_And pray to God he hears you_  
_And I pray to God he hears you_

* * *

 

Caroline has always been graced with an incredibly colorful imagination. For better and for worse.

Growing up, having such a powerful imagination was a given. Especially after her father left. She could go to bed at night and pretend he was still there. Imagine what her morning would be like if she were to wake up to find him sitting by the kitchen island with his coffee, waiting to have breakfast with her before school.

It has also been incredibly useful whenever she needed to come up with fresh, original ideas for charity events, fundraisers, school dances and cheerleading choreographers. Caroline's ingenious creativity was part of the reason why she was the natural choice for spearheading almost every single committee or club she ever dared to join.

But not all is rainbows and unicorns.

Caroline had terrible nightmares for months after she was turned, didn't have a single full night of sleep for weeks. Her mind provided her with every single second of agony she went thought with Damon, in detail.

When Tyler left for the mountains and stopped answering her calls, her mind would come with the most atrocious scenarios. One day he'd be eaten by a pack of rabid werewolves. The next he'd be attacked by a mob of Klaus loyalists. Then he would run into a lovely wolf girl who would understand all his anguish and help him overcome his demons, showing him life in a way he'd never seen before.

That one turned out not to be that far from reality, after all.

And then, of course, there were all those times when she was plagued with vivid imagery of what intimacy with a certain hybrid would be like.

Her imagination, it seems, never really distinguished between right and wrong and good and evil quite as well as the rest of her. It didn't care so much about the fact that Klaus is obviously the devil, so much as about the mischief in his eyes and the sin on the corner of his fat lips and those ridiculous dimples.

If she says she never _indulged_... Well. Can anyone blame her?

She always chalked it up as curiosity of the exclusively academic variety. When everything you know of the world is restricted to a town the size of Mystic Falls and some millennium-old dude who looks like a rock star starts making eyes at you - well, you're bound to _wonder_. She's reasonable and righteous but she also has eyes and a supernatural libido.

Klaus is hot, period. And not like Matt, who's adorable in a good boy you'd want to introduce to your mother kind of way. Or like Tyler, who's _really_ hot in a school heartthrob troublemaker you _definitely_ want to spend your prom night with way. Not even like Stefan, who's got that whole afflicted James Dean soul thing going on. Klaus is more like... Going to ruffle all your feathers and twist your life upside down whilst giving you seven orgasms kind of way.

She doesn't know how much of that is how his angelic features make him seem positively filthy when combined with the wickedness in his eyes, or the way he moves through the world as though he owns it. Maybe it's the swagger or the fact he sounds unbelievably cultured and posh for a villain. It could be the accent, too.

Or... It could just be the way he looks at her like she's the most beautiful thing he's ever seen. Like she's a mystery he can't wait to unravel. An _equal_. Or how everything he says is a revelation. He even makes eternity sound like a bright and exciting promise rather than scary and way too long. The fact he keeps gifting her things that are somehow just _perfect_ even though she barely gives him any attention is annoying. It's almost like he... pays attention.

So, yes. In her wildest fantasies, the ones she kept closer to her heart because they were dangerous and would never, _ever_ come true, Caroline imagined what this moment would be like.

It didn't come even close to the real thing.

For better or for worse, it is kind of Klaus' thing to exceed expectations.

Caroline's idea of hot vampire-hybrid sex has been... Thoroughly revised. Tyler had stamina; what Klaus has is... something else. A thousand years of experience, as it turns out, really do count for something. The guy's got _tricks_. He's not just talk; or he is talk, but with moves to back it up. She could tell it wasn't just half-assed sex for the sake of it; Klaus brought his A game. And, for such an evil spawn, he's actually very _generous_. He didn't just want to get off; he wanted Caroline to feel _everything_ and enjoy every second of it.

There was something very territorial about the way he touched her. Like he was claiming her for himself, and she couldn't help but surrender. Her traitorous body lit up with his every touch, longing to feel him, to give in to the heat. Klaus worshipped her with his fingertips, tracing every inch of her skin, and then his mouth, learning her every curve like a blind man learns the contours of an art work. And then there was that moment...

They'd been at it for a long time already, and Caroline's body was slick with sweat, her cheeks burning red with the exercise, and she was barely thinking anymore, had completely succumbed to pleasure, drowning in warmth and sensation. Klaus had pulled her into his lap, one of his hands on her waist and the other around the curve of her ass. He thrusted up against her as she rode him in perfect rhythm, gradually picking up the pace. Caroline ran her hands through his blond curls, scraping her nails gently across his scalp, feeling his body shudder under her. She kept her eyes closed, her head thrown back while air threatened to fail her every time Klaus pushed himself up against her harder. His groans were like music to her ears, prompting her forward, faster. And then he stopped.

He used one hand to hold her down, pulling her into him, their chests touching. With the other, he cupped her face, forcing her to meet his eyes. It was like everything froze; even time stopped moving. Klaus didn't say anything, just looked her, _really_ looked, and a world of things passed between them. His eyes were crystal blue, open and clear like she'd never seen them before, not a trace of the storm that always lurks behind his gaze. There was fire and lust, yes, but also so much warmth, so much tenderness, flowing unrestrictedly.

They stayed like this for a moment, panting, unmoving, overwhelmed by the realization that it was really happening. And her heart nearly burst out of her chest, taken with a kind of emotion that couldn't fit inside of her.

Caroline plucked a kiss from his lips, touching his face and feeling with her fingers as a dimple cut into his cheeks. She smiled before taking his mouth again into a deep, languid kiss as she clenched around him and slowly began to move, rolling her hips a little. The thrum of Klaus' groans, smothered against her mouth, traveled through her like energy, and when Klaus slipped a hand between their bodies to touch her while she rode him, all form of coherence was lost.

It was the single most arousing, sensual moment of her life. She felt like being shattered into a million pieces, unsure if anyone would ever be able to bring her undone quite like this, but not minding it the least.

The panic only came later.

After, her body seemed to dematerialize as she collapsed forward, completely exhausted after round three or four or... Honestly, she stopped counting. He lay back down on the bed, wrapping an arm protectively around her, and they stayed like this, waiting for their hearts to stop beating so fast and their breaths to even out. She eventually rolled off him to lie on his side, and Klaus pulled her face closer again, kissing her, wet and needy.

That was when Caroline finally felt the weight of what they did. Of what _she_ did. Once you sleep with the enemy, you sleep with the enemy. There's no going back. And the problem was... She didn't feel half as guilty about it as she probably should. Not with Klaus looking annoyingly irresistible in the afterglow, smiling like he was with his lips red and full from all the nipping and sucking.

Caroline is hardly awkward when it comes to her sexuality. She was the first of her friends to have sex and she always spoke very openly about it. Sex doesn't have to mean anything. It can be a casual expression of a moment, of physical attraction and healthy needs. It doesn't have to be a big deal and nobody should be made to feel guilty for being horny. Except sometimes it is a big deal. And the quake at the pit of her stomach told her that this was one of those times.

Klaus was problematic not because he meant nothing, but because he meant too much. It could never be just sex, which is probably something she should've thought about _before_ she attacked his mouth in his living room, but alas, that bolt had already sailed.

She felt like she should have something to say to him - about this, about him, about how she feels. But she had not nothing. Or maybe, more accurately, she had too much. Screwing him wasn't exactly the best decision to quiet down her already tangled emotions after the whole Silas situation. It just made it all the more staggering. Now, on top of the heightened sensations, she also has the heightened feelings she doesn't understand.

Before it could get awkward, Caroline used the oldest trick in the book: turned to the other side and pretended to doze off.

She thought Klaus would get up and go find something to do, whatever it is that Klaus does when he's not trying to take over the world. Paint. Snack. Drink. It would give her a chance to pull her shit back together, find her clothes and walk out of his place with some modicum of dignity preserved. Instead, he drape an arm over her waist, pulling her into him, and placed a chaste kiss on the back of her neck before shutting his eyes as well.

Caroline's heart gave a violent lurch.

There was maybe a tiny little part of her hoping he would be rude or selfish, disappointing to the point she would lose interest. It would be a quick way to end this infatuation and fix the whole problem. But it couldn't be farther away from it. He was... Perfect. Everything a girl could ever want from a first time with a guy she's been lusting after for way longer than it is ok to admit, and then some. And Caroline... She just doesn't know what to do.

Against her own better judgment and the anxiety eating away on her insides, she relaxes into the embrace. For the first time since she came back to the real world, Caroline feels right again and, for just a second, she finds herself wishing she could stay frozen in this bubble of contentment where everything is fine and nothing hurts. Maybe if they'd done this while they were still under captivity, she could have. But out here, things are different.

She waits until his breathing evens out and his heartbeats are perfectly steady before she dares to shift around, careful not to wake him up.

She got used to watching him sleep while they were on the road. It always struck her how much younger he seems, how peaceful. Klaus is the very definition of chaos but like this, with his eyes closed and his lips parted, you'd never be able to tell the kind of turmoil that roars inside of him. The silence in the room, the crumpled white sheets around him, the messy hair... It makes the mighty Klaus Mikaelson look less like the ruthless beast that haunts people's nightmares than a young man begging to be kissed.

Back in Silas' manipulation, it had felt like something very intimate, to witness him in a moment of such vulnerability. But it wasn't like Klaus allowed her into it then; he just didn't have a choice. He was passing out from exhaustion, from having so much energy drained from him that his body would simply shut down.

This, right here, is different.

The man asleep next to her isn't the debilitated, sickly mortal. This is the Original hybrid in all his glory. As transcendental as the sex was, it did not feel as private as this. Sex probably doesn't mean a thing to Klaus at this point in his life. He'll more easily sleep with someone than he'll shake their hands. But to trust someone enough to let them into such an unguarded moment like this? And not just anyone either. Someone who used to plot his demise on a daily basis, who has seen him bleed and would have all the means to make it happen again.

That certainly means something to Klaus. It certainly means _a lot_.

Caroline lets out a shuddery sigh, realizing just how complicated her life about to get, and then she freezes when he stirs a little, nuzzling into the pillow. If she was anxious about interacting with him before, what is she going to say if he wakes up to find her watching him sleep like a creep? Grade A stalker stuff, right there. She'll never head the end of it.

Sneaking out is so very beneath her, but it's better than the alternative.

Using all her stealth, she disentangles herself from him and gets out of bed without disturbing his sleep. She picks up her clothes from the floor, getting dressed in record speed. Her jacket is nowhere to be found, though. Where the hell did she leave -

"Leaving so soon, love?"

Caroline winces, clenching her hands and cursing under her breath.

Well, she tried.

Wiping the embarrassment off her face, she turns around to find a very lazy kind of mischief on Klaus' face, a cheeky grin plastered on his lips, arms crossed under his head to give him better leverage to look at her. She didn't even see him move, the sneaky bastard. The sheets are barely covering his modesty, and Caroline's eyes rake over his naked torso for a moment, lingering on the lines where it dips down under the sheets. She suddenly has to resist the urge to go back to bed. Klaus is a freaking vision. It's so unfair.

"I'm sorry. Have I made you uncomfortable?" he says, smirking. His eyes are _glowing_ with delight.

Caroline clears her throat and grinds her teeth. "Stellar bedside manners, Klaus."

"I guess that makes two of us, then. Honestly, I'm a little hurt. Not many people try to sneak out on me."

"All right, fine," annoyance bites into her tone. "I _was_ trying to sneak out - but I am _not_ proud of that. I do not like to feel like a freaking stripper."

"Whoever said you had to?"

"No one. But this is... Awkward," she says, motioning her hands between the two of them. "I don't know how to do this."

Klaus' lips curl wolfishly. "You seemed to know _exactly_ how to do this not too long ago."

Caroline glares. "Mocking me is certainly not helpful."

She whirls around to go find her damn jacket, which got probably discarded on the first floor or as they groped and tripped their way up the stairs, but Klaus whooshes out of bed and plants himself in front of her.

"Pardon my manners," he says, his palms out in a placating gesture.

The fact he's not wearing anything is a little bit distracting, but Caroline manages to keep her eyes firmly on his face.

"I have to go."

"Why?"

"Because I'm already late. I was supposed to go back to school this afternoon. I'm head of three -"

"Different committees. Yes. I've heard."

"Good. Then you know how much work I have to do. I already missed a whole day because of Silas, now I'm all behind schedule. My incompetent colleagues can't seem to handle anything without supervision like a bunch of kindergarteners trying to organize a trick or treating party, and if I turn my back for a second your dear sister sneaks in and tries to hijack my entire prom planning with her horrible taste for _everything_ , so I really can't give Rebekah -"

The rest of Caroline's rant dies against Klaus' mouth when he kisses her.

She tries to protest into the lip lock, her hands splayed across his chest to push him off, but it comes out with a lot less intent than she would've liked. Caroline meekly allows herself to be manipulated, parting her lips before Klaus' questing tongue. It's really not fair, she thinks, that Klaus' kiss has such a disarming effect on her. It wipes the carefully constructed reproof from her memory. Soon, Caroline's hooking her hands behind his neck, kissing him back.

It's languorous, bodies shifting lazily together rather than passionately. Different from the other make-out sessions they've had so far, where everything was always so filthy and messy and horny. This is gentler, not hurried at all. It stirs something within her, a tremor that starts deep in her chest and radiates outward. But she doesn't want him to stop.

She thinks, with perfect clarity, _We shouldn't be doing this_ , but deepens the kiss again before she gets a chance to say it outloud. Klaus' teeth catches her lower lip, his hands moving slowly down her side, then a little more, to her ass. Caroline considers cocking him an eyebrow, but hey - she's making out with a naked dude. What did she expect?

"We're not doing this again," she murmurs into his mouth. Klaus smirks against her chin, his teeth scraping her jaw.

"Of course," he says.

"I mean it."

"Fair enough." He doesn't sound convinced and, frankly, neither does Caroline. But it has to be said.

"You can't do that."

"What?" he asks, nipping on her neck. "This?" He traces a line with the tip of his tongue all the way to her earlobe, sucking it into his mouth, stealing a gasp from her. "Or this?" He plants tiny little kisses all around her jaw, all the way to her chin. "Or maybe this?" He smirks again, taking her mouth with his.

Caroline swallows. "You can't be nice," she says, interrupting him. "And gentle. And _extra_ nice."

He arches his eyebrows. "You have me confused now, sweetheart."

"Try being in my head for five seconds. I just - And now I have to - And you're -"

"Are you planning on finishing any of those sentences at some point?" Klaus asks, amused.

"Why do you have to make it so hard?"

"Honestly, love. I'm not the one making anything hard right now. That's all you." He snickers, pressing himself closer so she can feel the pun intended.

"Ugh. Shut up."

Klaus sighs. "What do you want me to do, Caroline? Tell me."

"I want you to be a jerk and tell me to leave and maybe have other women hidden in your closet."

He pulls away from her, gazing into her eyes. "I see. Wouldn't it be more accurate, then, to say that what you want is for me to make your life easier so you can tell yourself this has all been a mistake? Perhaps some lasting effect of Silas' manipulation making you disoriented? So you can regret everything as fiercely as you believe would be appropriate. Well, I'm sorry to disappoint you, love. I don't intend to give you an easy way out. You're gonna have to face yourself, Caroline, and admit what we have both known for a long time."

"And what is that?" she asks, hating the edge on her own voice.

Klaus' lips curl into a smile that is equal parts self-satisfied and wicked. "That in spite of everything I've ever done, you want me just as much as I want you."

Caroline is momentarily taken aback by the absolute certainty in his voice - and how it seems to resonate with something deep inside of her - but then she masks it by huffing out a sardonic little laugh. "You wish," she says, her voice carrying that calculated air of not caring.

"Nik!"

Caroline stiffens like a rock in Klaus' arms, her eyes widening in horror.

"Is that...?"

Klaus rolls his eyes. "It appears my darling sister has picked a terrible time to rekindle our familial bonds."

"Shit!" With a sudden sense of urgency, she pushes Klaus away and surveys the room one more time for the rest of her things. "She can't know I'm here."

"Let me take care of that," he says, very nonchalantly, making for the door.

Caroline gasps and pulls him back. "Are you insane?" she hisses. "Put some clothes on!"

"It's only Rebekah. How many times do you think she's walked in on me like this?"

"So? If she sees you naked she'll know exactly what you've been up to."

"Exactly. It'll send her away in a blink."

"That's the whole problem!"

"How is that a problem? Don't tell me you want me to invite her up? Because the answer is a firm no."

"Oh my God, _ew_!" She slaps his arm. "She can't know I'm here, Klaus. Do you understand?"

He lets out a bored sigh, moving to pick up his discarded clothes. "If you insist."

" _Nik! Where are you?_ "

"Damn it," Caroline mutters, starting to feel exasperated. "Ok. You go down there and distract her. I'll leave through the back."

"What was that you said about not wanting to sneak out like a stripper?"

"This is _not_ the time to make fun of me."

"Of course not," he says, making a mock-serious face.

He puts on his shirt and turns to her with his arms open in a _Satisfied now?_ way. Caroline just points to the door and mouths out _GO!_. Just as he's brushing past her, though, she grabs a hold of his elbow and pulls him back for a quick kiss.

He flashes her his dimples again. "What was that for?"

"Nothing," she shrugs. "Just so I won't feel like a stripper."

"I can hurt Rebekah's feelings and get her storming out of here in two seconds. Are you sure you don't want to stay?"

Caroline lets go of him with a cheeky grin. "You have to earn an overnight, Klaus."

"And here I was thinking I'd done plenty to earn it already."

"I'm not easy like your lady werewolf friends."

"Wouldn't dream of it."

 _"Niklaus, I know you're here! Stop hiding!_ "

Klaus rolls his eyes. "Shall I get to that, then?"

Caroline watches as he disappears down the hall, listening closely as his steps become more and more distant.

"What the bloody hell do you want, Rebekah? I'm not in the mood for your foolishness." His tone is grave and irritable, a world apart from what it has been just a second before. Caroline smiles to herself; he smoothed perfectly into his dark and dreary character.

When she's convinced that he's led Rebekah into a far enough room, she flashes down the stairs and out of the house, jumping into her car and pulling out of the driveway as quietly as possible.

How unfortunate that she'll have to come back for her jacket some other time...

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

" _Dana!_ " Caroline yells, not even ten in the morning yet.

That's how most of her days have started since she came back from _New Orleans_ \- she'd taken to thinking of that _period_ as a trip to Louisiana, rather than Silas' dream manipulation; it makes her feel less like a crazy person. There's enough crazy in her life as it is.

Caroline is far from being a simple girl, but sometimes all she wants is for a day to go by where she won't have to yell at anyone. But, apparently, that is asking too much.

"What?" Dana replies, an expression of endless boredom on her face, resigned to the fact she's just going to keep getting yelled at for her half-assed efforts and not even willing to fight for her dignity anymore. Caroline will never forgive Elena and Bonnie for quitting the prom committee and leaving her with _that_.

"What the hell is this?" Caroline asks, turning her phone to her.

Dana peers at her phone, then back at Caroline's demanding arched eyebrows with a shrug. "I can't read from here."

 _Breathe, Caroline. Breathe._ "Why did I just get an email from the florist confirming the delivery of two hundred _red freaking roses_ for tomorrow? Peach garden roses, light coral peonies, white freesias. What part of that is so hard for you to understand?"

Dana frowns. "I didn't order red roses."

"That's not what this email says. And it also says _you_ placed the order."

"I... I didn't... Did I? I remember asking for freesias, garden roses, peonies - the guy asked if bright coral peonies were ok, I said no, I want them _light_ , he said that would cost extra, I checked with Mark to see whether we had enough budget for it, he said yes, then I..." She trails off, like her mind is just blank after that. "I don't remember what happened next."

"Of course you don't," Caroline says, suddenly understanding everything. "Why don't you call them back and see if there's still time to change back the order?"

"I wouldn't do that if I were you, Dana," someone speaks from behind her, in an insufferable accent Caroline always dreads to hear anywhere near her prom committee reunions.

Dana stops, very confused, looking from Caroline to the blonde standing behind her as though wondering who was more likely to rip her throat out in case of disobedience.

Caroline clicks her tongue and turns around to face Rebekah's smug little grin. "What the hell do you think you're doing?" she asks.

"Trying to put some elegance into this party, of course."

"Elegance?" Caroline parrots with derision. "You must have the occasion mistaken. This is _prom_ , not a cheap motel's Valentine's Day celebration."

"Are you not familiar with the concept of _less is more_? Three hundred different flowers are going to make this look like a funeral."

"First of all, it's not three hundred different flowers. Second, whoever died and put you in charge of decisions?"

"I don't know who _died_ , but I do know who slept with my brother," Rebekah says, a cheeky grin punctuating her sentence.

Caroline feels herself going pale, her eyes widening in shock. It lasts only a second before she pushes down the panic and gathers her poise.

"What?" Dana asks, somehow still standing there. "Who slept with who?"

"This is none of your business, Dana," Caroline hisses. "Go find something else to ruin."

Shaking her head, Dana raises her hands in a helpless gesture and walks away.

"Poor girl. There's no need to snap at the help, Caroline. You can't blame her for the bad choices you make in your life. Here, a peace offering." Rebekah throws something she had bunched in her hands at Caroline. Her goddamn jacket. "Nik said he didn't know which of his tramps it belonged to, even tried to pin this hideous thing _on me_ , but I could smell your cheap cologne all over it from miles off. All over him too, by the way."

Caroline sticks her chin up defiantly, swallows down the snide retort about the _tramp_ line, and does the only thing she can think of. "I've never seen this jacket before in my life."

Rebekah scoffs. "Really? And I suppose that was not your car parked on my brother's driveway and then mysteriously leaving just minutes after I arrived?"

Caroline winces inwardly, but refuses to give Rebekah the satisfaction of seeing her crumble.

"All right. Fine," she says, crossing her arms. "Yes. I was at your brother's place yesterday and I left because I wasn't in the mood to deal with your unpleasantness. I can only stand Mikaelsons in small doses at a time. But I did _not_ sleep with him."

"Since when have you started paying Nik courtesy visits?"

"Since we were forced to go on a bit of an _adventure_ together. By _Silas_."

"Oh, yes. I heard of your little kerfuffle. From _Matt_. Who heard it from _Damon_. Who, apparently, heard it from _Stefan_. My brother gets kidnapped and almost killed and no one seems to think about calling me?"

"Since when do you care?"

"He's my _brother_. A pain in my arse, for certain, but still my family. If anyone is going to kill him, that is going to be me."

"Well, he seemed to be of the opinion that you wouldn't be interested in taking part in a rescue mission. If you're unhappy about it, you can take it up with him."

"But you were, weren't you? Nik's knight in a slutty armor. Suddenly so well versed on my dear brother's opinions. Lots of pillow talk, I take?"

Caroline opens her mouth to deny it yet again, but realizes it's useless. She'll just be giving Rebekah the satisfaction of getting her riled up. Instead, she lets out a sharp exhale. "What do you want?"

"Glad you finally gave up on denying the obvious. Now we can talk. I want red roses. And to get a vote on one or two other things."

"Are you out of your mind? We're on a tight schedule here, barely making it work the way it is. We don't have time to change anything else."

"You, maybe. I tend to be slightly more efficient. Besides, I'm sure we can make time, or I could start firing away a couple of text messages to make a certain juicy bit of gossip circulate among your friends. How do you think they'd like to hear that you've fallen for my brother's tormented soul act?" Rebekah shakes her head. "And to think I actually respected you for resisting his cheap charm."

"You're such a bitch."

"Thank you," Rebekah says, a broad smile on her face. "So, what will it be? Red roses or...?"

"Ugh! God! You're _awful_! Everyone thinks Klaus is the worst of you Mikaelsons, but you can give him a run for his money."

"Oh, that's sweet," Rebekah coos. "You're in love already."

"Shut up!"

"Keep the roses then, yes?"

"You're ruining my prom!"

"It's my prom, too."

"No, it's not! You've barely attended any classes and you tried to kill several of our classmates!"

Rebekah shrugs. "I'm part of the dance committee, same as you."

"I'm _head_ of the dance committee, I have been so for three years, and you're only here because you _compelled_ yourself in."

"Like I said, I'm on the committee, and if you're going to act like a little mean girl dictator, you better be ready for people to want to take you down. Have you learned nothing from Nik?" Rebekah gives her a pointed eye roll. "Anyway. You can either take my red roses and trust that I will make everything look incredible, or you better start working on your apologetic faces for when your friends find out you've been canoodling with the enemy."

Caroline narrows her eyes menacingly at Rebekah, her blood boiling in her veins. "I hate you."

Rebekah grins. "I'll take that as a yes, then. I'd say you're a sensible girl, but you've slept with Nik, so... Maybe not."

"Get the hell out of my face before I snap your neck!"

"As much as I'd love to see you try, I do have more important things to do. Just leave the prom to me," she says, stopping next to Caroline to whisper, "Great doing business with you. _Sister_."

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

" _Klaus_!"

Caroline doesn't bother with manners this time as she barges into the Mikaelson mansion and stomps her way through the place, searching for the homeowner.

She finds him in the living room, slumped back in his leather couch with a sketchbook in his hands.

"What the hell were you thinking?!" Caroline demands, planting herself in front of him with her hands on her hips.

Klaus sighs. "I have exceptionally good hearing, Caroline. You do not need to yell."

"Yes, I do. Because you're an idiot who apparently doesn't understand polite tones of voice!"

He finally looks up from his drawing, eyebrows up to his hairline. "I am many things, love, but I can assure you that _idiot_ is hardly one of those." Calmly, he closes his sketchbook, puts it away, gesturing for her to make herself comfortable. "To what do I owe the pleasure of your chiding?"

"You told Rebekah!"

"Told Rebekah what?"

"What do you think?! You couldn't even wait _one_ freaking day before you went babbling about us. That's textbook _dick_ move, Klaus."

"I didn't tell Rebekah anything."

"Really?" Caroline asks, crossing her arms across her chest. "Then how the hell did she figure everything out with such certainty?"

"Your backdoor exit wasn't exactly discreet. She saw you sneaking out. And then she found your jacket. I tried telling her it wasn't yours, but she wouldn't have it."

"And you couldn't simply _deny_ her assumptions? I could've been here for a number of reasons. To steal an artifact. A grimoire. To borrow a cup of sugar - _anything_."

"I understand Rebekah can come across as quite naive at times, but she's very intuitive. And definitely not stupid," Klaus says, with a pointed look. And then, with a smile that is too self-satisfied for Caroline's taste, he adds, "She also mentioned I looked _well-shagged_."

Caroline grunts. "God, you are so...! Do you have any idea what your stupid male ego is causing me right now? You just had to let someone know that you added a notch on your belt, didn't you?"

"I'll take the blame for my ego; modesty has never been one of my strong suits and I make no apologies. But the _notch on my belt_ rubbish is not true, and you know that."

Caroline snaps her mouth shut, swallowing down all the expletives lodged in her throat. She's beside herself with rage, spent the rest of the school day with a frown on her face, snapping at everyone who dared to approach her. Head of three different committees and she couldn't even join the activities, just _days_ before prom. There would be blood if she was made to breathe the same air as Rebekah. It took every fiber of self-restraint in her body not to get physical with the Original sister. All the way to Klaus' house, Caroline pounded at the steering wheel, pretending it was her face. She wants nothing more than to lash out and maybe hurt someone to blow off some steam, but... Klaus has a point. It's not his fault, as much as she'd like to blame him. He could've obviously done a _better job_ at covering for her. But Caroline doubts Rebekah would buy it either way. And in any case, her complete lack of cool at being questioned was probably what confirmed the suspicions.

It's not even just about prom, although it is _very much_ about it too. Caroline couldn't even get one full day without anybody finding out about her little misdemeanor. While it was only between herself and Klaus, she didn't have to feel so bad about it. It was a slip. A one-time thing. No one ever had to know. Everyone makes mistakes - Elena traded Stefan for Damon; Stefan slept with Katherine, and Rebekah; so did Damon; Bonnie was having a weird thing going on with Professor Creepy; Tyler did... Whatever he did with Hayley. Even Matt seems to have a thing with Rebekah.

 _No one_ has a clean record in Mystic Falls. Caroline was allowed some leeway to break out of her perfect little Miss Mystic Falls façade. And she was _enjoying_ it, if she's to be completely honest. She had _scandalous_ sex with the town's resident evil villain and _no one knew about it_. The thrill of adrenaline was still rushing through her when Rebekah came in and threw an ice bucket over her head.

"Your sister is blackmailing me," she grunts. "She's going to turn me into a minion and I'll have to do whatever the hell she wants or she'll tell _everyone_ about us. Might as well have me compelled, at least that way I can preserve some dignity. She already forced me to accept her ridiculous red roses that are against _everything_ I had envisioned for the decor. She's going to _ruin_ my life."

Klaus breaks into hearty laughter, throwing his head back. Caroline gapes. "Oh, you think this is funny? Is the complete demise of my life entertaining to you?"

"Rebekah _is_ my sister," Klaus says, a proud smile on his face.

"This is as much your fault as it is hers. You should've distracted her and you failed, so you don't get to laugh now," she says, glaring.

"Look," Klaus starts standing up to go pour himself a drink. "If it makes you feel any better, I actually think Rebekah likes you."

Caroline snorts derisively. "Right. I forgot torture was the Mikaelson way of demonstrating affection."

"Violence does run in the family, there's no denying it." He offers her a glass of scotch as a kind of peace offering. Caroline thinks it's way too early for her to be drinking, but she could use the alcohol right now, so she snatches the glass away from him and downs it almost all at once.

"She hates me," she says, her throat burning. "She hates me and she's loving this."

"Loving it, yes. Rebekah is spoiled. She doesn't know any way that isn't her way and wherever she finds resistance, she rejoices in taking it down by force. However - I know it's always been a frustration in her life that she's never managed to make many female friends. Most of the time, all she had was two overprotective older brothers. We lived through very difficult times for young women. Of course, being who she is, things were slightly different for her. She could always get what she wanted, one way or another. But that also meant she was often seen as... scandalous, perhaps even overbearing. She never had a lot of patience, my little sister. Men were easy. Women, not so much."

"Is that supposed to make me feel sorry for her?"

"I merely offer some perspective. Rebekah doesn't know how to... Approach women. Befriend them without creating unnecessary hostilities. She comes off as..."

"A bitch. You can say it."

Klaus smiles. "Can't disagree. But trust me, Rebekah admires you, Caroline. She's particularly nasty towards you precisely because of that."

"I don't care!" Caroline says, flailing. "If she has issues, she should take it up with a therapist, not me."

"She won't tell anyone."

"Of course she won't," she says, finishing her drink and putting down the glass. "I'll make sure of that by doing absolutely everything she wants, even if it means running my own prom night."

"You don't have to. She won't tell. I guarantee it."

"How? Are you going to threaten her with a dagger?" Caroline pauses. "That's not a bad idea, actually."

Klaus chuckles. "I'm a creature of habits, so the idea is never completely off the table. But I don't expect it will come to that. Your naughty little secret," he says, pointing towards himself. "Is perfectly safe."

Caroline regards Klaus studiously, scrutinizing his posture. He doesn't seem to be the least bit worried. But then why would he? It's not _his_ life Rebekah is threatening. He's got absolutely nothing to lose. Caroline on the other hand...

That's the real issue at hand here. She can get as mad as she wants at Rebekah, yell her lungs out at Klaus and blame the whole Mikaelson family for the downfall of her life if the story ever comes out. But the only one to blame here is herself. She followed Klaus home. She made the first move. She slept with him because she wanted to - _still_ wants to. He never made a mystery of his intentions, _everyone_ knows about it. She's the one who's wavered. Whatever raw feeling she's been hiding behind the false front of uncontrollable attraction and unbearable _horniness_ , this thing that gets her pulse racing and makes her stomach flip every time she sees him, comes near him, _thinks_ of him - that's the real perpetrator of the crime here.

And maybe it's time she starts taking responsibility for her mistakes, owning up to what she's done. It was _very bad_ but it was a onetime slip after very turbulent days and it won't happen again.

Then again, maybe not.

"Are you sure she won't tell?" she asks.

"Positive."

Caroline nods once, licks her lips with the tip of her tongue, her heart fluttering with the thrill of what she knows she's about to do. "Good."

In one swift motion, she has her hands around Klaus' neck, smashing their lips together. It's like fire exploding in her belly, radiating all through her body, setting her alight.

It's mad. This is completely mad. Somewhere on the back of her mind, a tiny little voice is telling Caroline that this is the last thing she needs in her life right now, that it won't help anything, and all she's really doing here is providing Rebekah with further blackmail material. But all of these very compelling downsides are not enough to make her want to stop. Reason is melting in the way Klaus' hand sneaks under her shirt to touch skin, or the feel of his fingers combing through her hair.

Maybe this is what's become of her. She's been beaten to a pulp by life so many times, had her heart shattered in every possible way by every single person she's ever loved and trusted, that now she's so cheap she'll fall in love with a pair of stormy blue eyes and an English accent whispering all the right words so adoringly in her ear. Klaus is a terrible, terrible person, but, when she thinks about it, she's fallen for a lot less before. Perhaps she's just tired of holding out for a soulmate, for someone who's going to be a perfectly decent human being and also madly in love with her. Maybe she can only have one or the other. Or maybe it just doesn't matter at all. It's hard to think clearly with his tongue in her mouth.

"Not that I'm complaining," Klaus says when they break away for air. "But what is this about?"

"If Rebekah is going to make my life hell, then it might as well be for a good reason."

Klaus flashes her his dimples. "I like the way you think, love."

"And I like the way you use that mouth of yours," she says, voice hoarse with desire.

He smirks, pulling her up, legs wrapped around his waist. "The pleasure is all mine."

"It better not be." Caroline chuckles, kissing him again as he carries her up the stairs.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

It's the middle of the afternoon and she's in bed with Klaus. The sheer insanity of the fact does not go unnoticed. But she is having a good time nonetheless. It's kind of a rare occurrence lately, so not to be underestimated.

Turns out there's nothing quite like good sex to help blow off some steam. Days and days of ill-resolved tensions and bottled up stress, all gone. Caroline feels lighter, relaxed in a way she hasn't in a very, _very_ long time. And all whilst lying naked in bed while Klaus pencils away at his sketchbook.

They had session number one, followed by a brief interlude where Klaus fetched them some B+s - _I swear to God, if this did not come from a blood bag..._ ; he just offered a cryptic and amused smiled -, followed by session number two, after which Caroline felt like eating some real food. She wrapped herself in Egyptian cotton sheets and went down to investigate the Mikaelson pantry. Clearly he has a lot more food stocked up in his kitchen than he could ever need or want. Vampires don't have that much appetite for real food - it's more like a craving. Caroline can go for days without eating anything but blood. Klaus can probably go for _months_. It made her wonder how many people Klaus compels to keep up with the daily chores he obviously cannot be bothered with, like stocking his pantry or doing his laundry. Now that he doesn't have the hybrids anymore, _where_ does he find his minions?

Caroline stored up the questions for later and returned to the bedroom with a bowl of fresh grapes to find him sitting up against the headboard with his sketchbook.

He peered briefly at her as she climbed back in bed, eyes brimming with affection.

For a while, she just watches him, scrutinizing his every gesture, every expression. Klaus looks at ease in a way she doesn't think she's ever seen before, despite the deep crease of concentration between his eyebrows as he puts his pencil to paper. It strikes her how ordinarily _human_ that whole scene feels. He's just focused on getting whatever he's drawing right, nothing else. Just a guy taking absolute pleasure in something as mundane as a hobby.

Caroline had no idea that it could be so hot to watch someone draw.

"What are you smiling at?" he asks, breaking the quietness.

Caroline blinks. She didn't even realize she was smiling.

"Nothing," she says. "Just remembered something funny."

"Care to share?"

"Not really."

He grins knowingly, never taking his eyes off the paper.

"Don't you think it's strange that Silas hasn't come for us yet?" she asks randomly. It's something that's been causing her some concern lately, but not exactly this second. She just feels like she needs to stir the conversation towards something else, before her mind starts trudging more dangerous territory. "He seemed like the type to hold a - you're not sketching me, are you?"

"Wouldn't dream of it."

"You better not be. Last thing I need is you drawing me like one of your French girl."

Klaus frowns, shoots her a confused glance. "Like my what?"

Caroline sighs. "You seriously need to update your pop culture knowledge."

"You're making no sense whatsoever, love."

"I bet." Caroline mumbles under her breath, lying down on her back. "But seriously. Are you not even a little bit concerned with Silas going radio silent all of a sudden? I thought he'd be dying to get back at us. Or _me_ , more specifically."

"Are you upset he hasn't come seeking revenge?"

"No. Just confused."

"Perhaps you should just stop questioning and start enjoying it, love. You won."

"That didn't feel like winning. Besides, I'm _paranoid_. Every time someone says something weird I immediately start wondering if it's not him playing tricks again."

"Well, then. There you have it. Maybe that's Silas' plan all along. He's a mind games enthusiast, after all."

"Yeah, I don't think this is his thing."

"I, for one, take no offense whatsoever on not being on Silas' immediate list of priorities. If he's got more important things to concern himself with, by all means. I can do without a living fossil getting inside my head," Klaus says, putting down his book and reaching over to take a grape from Caroline's bowl.

She cocks him an amused eyebrow. "Looks like someone's scared of Silas."

"I'm scared of no one," he says, matter-of-factly. "His tricks would never work twice on me. But I'm also a very practical man."

Caroline considers him for a moment, eyes narrowed to slits as she studies his apparent calm. She pushes herself up on her elbows and says, "You struck a deal with him, didn't you? You're still looking for the cure."

"Like I said. Practical."

Caroline gapes. "You are such a traitor! You can't do that, Klaus."

"Why not?"

"Because! He wants to bring down the veil. This is way bigger than you. Not to mention, it's suicidal."

"And so is provoking the fury of a man who cannot be killed and who will torment me for the rest of eternity."

"I can't believe you right now. Every supernatural being on the Other Side will have safe passage back to earth. And something tells me your list of dead enemies might be _slightly_ longer than everyone else's. How are you not concerned?"

"He doesn't need the cure to bring down the veil, Caroline. He'll probably do it anyway, if anything than out of spite. All he needs is your brainwashed witchy friend to perform a spell."

Caroline glares. "My _witchy friend_ has a name. Bonnie was being manipulated. She doesn't even remember what happened to her."

"It doesn't change anything, does it?"

"You still think someone's going to shove that cure down your throat, don't you? That's why you're so desperate to get rid of it."

"That is one compelling fact, however irrelevant. Chances of anyone succeeding are extremely low. But yes. The sooner the cure goes away, the sooner it ceases to be a point of concern," he explains, smiling as though his logic is all very reasonable.

"You are the last person anyone would think about feeding the cure to."

"How can you be so sure?"

"Remember us having a heated argument about trust?"

"I trust _you_ , Caroline. It's your friends I don't hold in very high esteem."

"Then you should trust _me_ when I tell you that no one is going to waste the single existing dose of the cure for vampirism on you, not when there are so many other people with better and far more noble reasons for wanting it in the first place."

"I believe you wouldn't do it. I believe the Salvatores are too eager to have their precious Elena reverting back to her sweet, innocent human self to try and use it against me."

"There you go, then. Just give it to Stefan and problem solved."

"I recall Tyler listing all the terrible things he'd like to do to me once he got his paws on the cure." Caroline slumps back down on the bed with a huff. It's impossible to negotiate peace with Klaus. "Not that I think he'd ever succeed, of course. But I'd rather not give him a chance to try."

"Tyler is not even here," she counters, glaring at him.

"And last I heard, neither was the cure. That repulsive little vial made its ways to Katerina's repulsive little hands. How do you suppose she'd like to use it?"

"Why is everything a bargain with you? Sometimes you just have to do the right thing, Klaus. No one's ever going to trust you if all you can think about is saving your own ass at the expense of everyone else's."

"Wherever did you get the idea I was trying to earn anybody's trust?"

"Pardon me for thinking I managed to push some tiny little sense into you."

"I'm quite sensible, love. Which is exactly why I've got everything covered," Klaus says, not sharply, but in a manner that clearly indicates he wants to draw a line under the conversation.

"He's literally going to unleash a mob of angry zombie supernatural creatures on earth. How does that not worry you? Not even a _little_ bit?"

"Unless they can bring formerly destroyed pieces of white oak on their carry-ons from hell, I don't see how that should be of any concern to me."

"So you're just that selfish, then? You're indestructible, so screw everyone else?"

"Caroline -"

"No, I mean it. I killed twelve witches to save Bonnie. I'm probably the first name on their revenge list. I can't fight twelve angry witches, so I'm pretty sure I'm going down."

Klaus' face stills and sets, a quick stab of hurt flickering through his eyes before he masked it. "No witch will get to you."

"How do you know that?"

"Because I won't let them."

There's something about the way he says it, or maybe about the way he looks at her - with a kind of certainty that is as encouraging as it is frightening. Klaus would do anything to protect her, but knowing this does not make Caroline feel reassured. The extents to which he'd be willing to go to do it are the part that worries her.

She always craved for that feeling of knowing you are truly important to someone, that they'd do anything for you. Now she's not so sure she wants to find out.

Still, the emotion in Klaus' eyes gives her pause. She feels her face flushing with heat, even as something cold settles in her stomach.

And then her phone rings and she snaps out of it.

Caroline fumbles with her discarded jeans and fishes the phone out of her back pocket. Bonnie's name flashes on the screen.

"Hey, Bonnie," she answers. "What's up?"

"That's what I would like to know. Where are you?"

"I'm, uhm - at this... thing," Caroline stutters, and then rushes to add, "Why? Is everything ok?"

"You tell me."

Caroline frowns. "What do you mean?"

"You were supposed to meet me? Twenty minutes ago? To help me pick a dress?"

_Holy shit!_

"Was that today?!" Caroline says, already beating herself up. She wanted a second opinion on her prom dress after the adjustments and Bonnie agreed to tag along because she hadn't decided on a dress yet. "I'm so sorry, Bonnie. I completely forgot."

"Relax, it's not the end of the world. But you got me worried. I thought Silas might've done something again, because what the hell else could make Caroline Forbes forget an appointment?"

"Should I be flattered, love?" Klaus asks, a self-satisfied smirk on his face. Caroline glares.

"Who was that?" Bonnie asks.

"No one," Caroline says. "Just some random person being too loud."

"Where are you?"

"Just... Running some errands. I'm sorry. I've been busy with... Things. Prom things. I totally forgot about our dress hunting date. Are you mad at me? Can we still go?"

"I'm not mad. Tell me where I can meet you."

"Maybe it's easier if I come to you. Can I pick you up in twenty?"

"Sure. I'll be waiting."

"Great. See you in a bit." Caroline apologizes one more time before hanging up and then swears under her breath.

"Devilish charm has that effect," Klaus remarks, obviously very full of himself.

"Shut up," Caroline snaps, wrapping a sheet around herself as she picks up her discarded clothes from the floor before moving towards the bathroom.

"Where are you going?"

"To take a shower," she says, and then, when a smirk appears on his face, she adds, "Don't even think about it."

"It's _my_ shower."

"You want to give Silas the cure, so you and I are not friends right now. No shower for you."

"Care to enlighten me on the terms of our _friendship_?"

"The terms are: you screw up, your privileges are immediately revoked." Just to twist the blade in a little, she drops the sheets before walking into the bathroom and lets him get a good view before shutting the door.

"Come on, Caroline," he says, pleadingly. "Nobody likes a tease!"

She opens the door just enough to stick her head out. "You do. Obviously." And then she shuts it again.

 

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

"How about this one?" Caroline holds out a beautiful bright yellow prom dress for Bonnie to inspect. Her friend just scrunches up her nose. She's been making that face _a lot_. "Seriously? What's wrong with this one? Not too much cleavage, no sparkly details, no lace... It's gorgeous."

"I don't like the color."

"But you look amazing in yellow!"

"Yeah, but I don't feel like yellow. I think I want something more like..." She starts flipping through the rack until she stops on a navy blue gown. "This is nice!"

Caroline sighs. She was determined to convince Bonnie to steer away from the darker side of the color palette, but she's been unyielding.

"It's prom, Caroline, not my wedding."

"It's not a funeral either," she counters. "We're supposed to be celebrating."

"I promise my dark disposition has nothing to do with Jeremy," Bonnie says, a little reassuring grin on her face that doesn't really reassure anything.

"Fine," she concedes. "The dress looks good."

"Just good?"

"I'm being difficult on purpose because I want you to change your mind, Bon. It's a gorgeous dress and you'll look stunning in it. You should try it on."

Bonnie beams, finally showing some excitement. Caroline can't help but smile back as her friend bounces off to the dressing room.

She starts flipping absently through the racks, searching for something that might resemble a certain other dress, one that made _her_ look like a queen. Caroline went to every single boutique in Mystic Falls trying to find anything even remotely similar to the gown she wore for her fake prom in New Orleans, but there was nothing. Her own dress, that she took three months to pick, looks so very bland now...

Her phone buzzes in her pocket. Caroline stares at Klaus' name on the screen for a while before deciding to answer it.

"What?" she says, dryly.

"Hello, love," Klaus replies on the other end, his voice smooth and unusually chirpy. "I was just wondering whether you've reconsidered our friendship status yet."

"Why?"

"How do you feel about joining me for dinner?"

"Dinner?"

"Yes. Tonight."

"... Are you asking me out on a date?"

"Well, that depends on what you're answer will be. If you say no, this phone call never happened."

Caroline hesitates. This feels like something that deserves a pause. For some reason, going on an actual date with Klaus - not a bargained one she basically didn't have a choice but to accept - feels like a substantial step up from their current situation. Definitely more significant than just sleeping with him. Not that sleeping with him isn't important, but sex can always be justified by a number of things, whereas a date...

There's only one reason why anyone goes out on a date.

Klaus could just take the sex and be satisfied with it. Caroline never demanded anything from him. She wouldn't go as far as to say it was _casual_ because she hardly thinks it's possible for any type of personal involvement with Klaus to be _casual_. But it's probably as close to that as it could get. Klaus fancies her, she finally admitted to a certain level of reciprocity, and that was it. He got what he wanted. Except...

Except now he wants a _date_ , which means he wants something beyond the sex.

Question is, does _she_ want to go there with Klaus?

She feels her stomach flip with an unusual kind of anticipation. "I'm not sure," she says, stuttering a little and fighting back a smile.

"You should probably know that I'm incredibly entertaining at dinner dates."

"Is that supposed to impress me?"

"For now, it's supposed to pique your interest. The impressive part comes later."

Caroline chews on her lip, considering even as the voice of reason in her skull, so tiny these days, starts listing all the reasons why she should definitely turn him down. It's bad enough that they've gone as far as they have. _Don't make it worse, Caroline,_ the voice says, but it's so tiny it's hard to hear it over the sound of her traitorous heart, drumming with anticipation in her chest.

Going on a date with him feels like entering a new phase of something. The first phase involved very serious things - getting friendly with each other, actually worrying about his well-being and, well, sex, of course. Now things have escalated. Stakes are higher for phase two, consequences a lot more serious. More real. If she says yes to this, there's no turning back, no blaming it on the booze or any lingering side-effects from Silas' Land. She'll have to own up to absolutely everything.

Somehow she suspects that having butterflies in her stomach is not a good sign.

"I don't know," she says, trying to sound as nonchalant as possible. "I'll have to get back to you on that."

"I'll be eagerly awaiting your answer, then."

"Good. But don't call me again. I'm busy."

Caroline hangs up wondering how desperate she would seem if she were to send him a text reply right away. She doesn't want him to think that it is _that_ easy to bend her - although, apparently, it is. It's ridiculous, really. All Klaus has done is ask her to dinner, which - it's not even the first time he's asked her on a date. Not even the second. It's the first one that feels _real_ , though. No veneer of business to hide behind. She's smiling like the school girl that she is, but hasn't felt like in years. And it's _Klaus_. What would two-years-ago-Caroline think if she could see her now?

When she turns around, Bonnie is there, hands on her hips and a stern look in her eyes.

"Bonnie," she says, her chest tightening all of a sudden. "Where's your dress? Why aren't you in the dressing room?"

"I came back to get the yellow one, give it a try. Who were you talking to?"

"No one," Caroline replies, way too flustered to actually sound convincing.

She knows it was the wrong answer when Bonnie purses her lips and crosses her arms over her chest. "Please tell me you were not talking to who I think you were talking to."

"I don't - don't know what you mean."

"Caroline," Bonnie says, drawing out her name to make it clear she's not up for games.

Caroline opens her mouth to deny the glaring accusation, but realizes it's too late for that now. She got caught red-handed and lying will just make it look worse.

"He called me," she offers in a meek attempt at a defense.

"And you said the words _dinner_ and _I'll have to get back to you on that_?"

"I wasn't going to say yes," Caroline objects.

"You do realize the opposite of _yes_ is _no_ , right? The only acceptable answers in this case would be 'No' and 'Leave me alone forever'."

Caroline gives a noncommittal shrug, but feels her face burning hot. It's probably a good thing she hasn't had that much blood today, or she'd be furiously blushing. "I was just being polite."

Bonnie gives her a hard look. "I speak fluent Caroline. That wasn't polite, that was _interested_."

"All right, fine. I considered saying yes. But only because I wanted to check on him and see if he's doing ok. I'm not, by the way - so I figured, maybe he's experiencing some lasting effects from being under Silas' manipulation too. Or maybe he knows how to fix it. That's all it was."

Bonnie narrows her eyes, assessing Caroline, who stands there like a little girl getting chided and perfectly willing to lie to save her ass. Only that's the problem of having friends you've known since before you could walk. They can see right through your bullshit.

"You've done more than enough for Klaus," Bonnie starts. "More than he ever deserved. If you're having a hard time, you've got actual friends you can count on. He can deal with his shit on his own. Actually - he can count himself lucky that you are infinitely more merciful than I am so he can be around right now and have shit to deal with. If it had been up to me, he wouldn't be."

"I know I have friends, but he doesn't. He doesn't have anyone, Bon," Caroline says, weakly.

"Oh, geez. Poor thing. I wonder why," Bonnie counters. "Klaus has been alive and kicking for well over a thousand years now and the only acquaintances he has are either family or running the hell away from him, sometimes both. There are no lovers, no sympathizers, not even his siblings like him. Why do you think that is?"

"Because he's a self-centered jerk. Yes, I'm aware. But you could say the same thing about Damon and no one ever questions why he's always around," Caroline snaps.

Bonnie's brow crinkled. "Damon? What does Damon have to do with anything?"

" _Everything._ I don't see anyone giving Elena a hard time for hanging out with him. Or anyone else, for that matter. Everything you just said about Klaus is also true about Damon. Why is it ok to be friends with one and not the other?"

Caroline watches as successive objections rise to Bonnie's lips and then fall away, as though she couldn't quite grasp what she had just heard. "Ok," she finally says after a while. "First of all, I do not approve of Elena and Damon, and I think I've made myself very clear about that. Second, Elena claims to be _in love_ with Damon. Are you trying to tell me something here?"

"No! God, Bonnie. Of course not," Caroline says, even as she pushes down an unusual surge of emotion, keeping it firmly away from her voice. "I'm not in _anything_ with Klaus. We just... Bonded over a very difficult time."

"Bonded?" Bonnie parrots with disbelief. "How can you say that with a straight face, Caroline? It's Klaus we're talking about. _Klaus_. Should I try saying his name in a different intonation to see if it registers?"

"I _know_ , Bonnie."

"Do you know what you need right now? You need a Caroline."

"What?"

" _You_ are the one who never misses out on an opportunity to rub it in Elena's face that she's making a mistake. I'm the good cop to your bad cop. But we don't have you right now, or Elena, for that matter, so I have to be your Caroline."

"Don't compare me to Elena," Caroline says bitterly. "I'm not throwing away the perfect epic love of my life for his dumbass, abusive brother. I know we all like to pretend we had a collective stroke and simply forgot how awful Damon actually is, but I have not forgotten he's the same guy who kept me compelled for _ages_ as his human blood bag and - I don't even like to remember what he did to me. But when he got tired, he just threw me out like an old shoe, telling me I was pathetic and sad and delusional for thinking anyone would ever like me."

"Care -"

"Klaus is terrible, yes," Caroline continues, cutting Bonnie off. "I have not forgotten that and I am not making any excuses for him. But so is Damon! He killed Jeremy _before_ he knew about the ring. He killed his brother's best friend. He _stole his brother's girlfriend_. He's an _asshole_. And no one bothered when Alaric became best friends with him or when Elena started hanging out with him -"

"When Klaus forced Stefan to go back to being the Ripper," Bonnie completes. "Did you forget that part?"

"No," Caroline says, words snagging slightly in her throat. "I haven't."

Bonnie shakes her head lightly. "I can't believe you're seriously comparing Damon to Klaus."

"I'm not. But yes, I am. I'm sorry if I don't see how it can be that terrible for me to be _friendly_ with Klaus while I've had to accept that one my best friends has fallen in love with a guy who abused me for weeks."

"I didn't know you felt that way about Damon," Bonnie says, voiced etched in concern. "You never talk about it."

"Because there's never time to talk about it. There's never time to let bad things get to me, so I don't. I just moved past it. It doesn't mean I forgot. And maybe I'm a hypocrite now, but at least Klaus doesn't pretend to be something that he's not. I know he's terrible, I know everything he's done. I _know_ , Bonnie, and I'm not offering him absolution or a green card to go ahead and do worse. I'm just saying - we've been through _stuff_ , through no fault of our own, and it has brought us close. And maybe, just _maybe_ , I wish you would cut me some slack this _one_ time because I could really use a friend right now."

Caroline has no idea where all that came from, but when she finishes her rant, she feels oddly empty. Things had been piling up inside of her for months. _Years_ , if she's honest. And that's just the tip of the iceberg, really, but it's a relief to be able to say it - _finally_ \- after holding back for so long.

And if she sounded too bitter or too harsh, well, fuck it. It's been a weird week.

Bonnie puts a hand on her shoulder, gives her a gentle squeeze. "I'm sorry," she says, softly. "I'm not trying to be hard on you. Or even judging you."

"Really? Could've fooled me."

"I'm serious. I'm not saying this because I want to make you feel bad, or like you should do anything based on how _I_ feel, personally, about Klaus. I'm saying all this because Klaus is literally the monster that haunted our bedtime stories, and I worry for you around him."

"I'm not in danger, if that's what you're worried about."

" _Everyone_ who gets too close to Klaus is in danger, Care."

 _Not me_ , she wants to say, but doesn't, because it will fall on deaf ears. Bonnie thinks she's being fooled by Klaus' charm; explaining to her the depth of Klaus' feelings will only make things more complicated.

"I have no idea what you went through in Silas' hands," Bonnie starts. "But Klaus uses people, Caroline, that's what he does. You're either an asset, or completely disposable. There's no in-between. That's why he doesn't have any friends. He gets rid of people the second they stop being useful to him, because that's when they become liabilities."

"You don't believe people can change? That they can be better? Like Damon? Even I admit that he's improved a lot."

"Of course I do. I believe _people_ can change. Klaus is not a person, he's the devil. He's cruel, Caroline. I don't doubt that he likes you - why wouldn't he? You've got him captivated because you're amazing and gorgeous and everything he isn't, everything he doesn't have in his life. But how long is he gonna stay like that? And what happens when he isn't anymore? When you say the wrong thing or you go against him - when you try to stop him? When your interests collide? Then what?"

Caroline swallows hard, looking away from her friend.

_Wherever did you get the idea I was trying to earn anybody's trust?_

_I trust _you_ , Caroline. It's your friends I don't hold in very high esteem._

"There's a reason immortal people spend their entire lives running away from Klaus. If you're not with him, you're against him, and Klaus crushes whoever stands in his way. Everything he's done to us, to the people we love, it will be nothing compared to what he'll do to you. You know too much about him. His weaknesses. His secrets. His family. You've seen him vulnerable. Do you think he's just going to let you walk away? I'd be a horrible friend if I didn't try to be your Caroline right now and tell you that you're about to make a mistake. Or maybe you've already done it, but... It's not too late. He held your hand through hell, you saved his life. You're even, so you can let go now. You're too good for him, he doesn't deserve you."

"Well, then who does?" Caroline says, surprised by the emotion in her voice. "Matt? I basically got down on my knees and begged him to love me, and he couldn't. He couldn't handle the fact I was a vampire, but that never seemed to be a problem when he offered his neck for Elena to feed on. Or Tyler, who's always going somewhere? Yes, Klaus has a bounty on his head, but... He was going to bury himself in concrete for God knows how long, Bonnie, just to help a bunch of hybrids he met yesterday and who were not very nice people, by the way - in fact, some of them would've gladly ripped my throat out. I begged him to give up. He broke the sire bond, he was free from Klaus' control. We could've just moved on with our lives and been together, maybe even skipped town for a while. But that wasn't enough for him. _I_ wasn't enough for him. So, really... Who deserves me?"

"So because men are dumb you're just gonna give yourself up for a demon, because it's easier? That makes no sense, Care. Matt and Tyler were too stupid to realize what they had, it doesn't mean Klaus is any better. If all Klaus does it break your heart, you're in luck. Look at Elena. Look at what loving Damon has done to her. I tried not to be too harsh, to keep my reservations to myself because I thought I couldn't even imagine what she was going through. She lost her parents, then her actual birth parents, her aunt, Alaric, and then she died. That's too much for anyone to handle. I thought, cut her some slack, let her deal with things whichever way she's more comfortable with. But in hindsight, if I could go back, I would've done everything in my power to keep her away from Damon. I don't want to make the same mistake and lose another friend. I refuse to."

Bonnie's words were a knife, driven right between Caroline's ribs. It's not that she hadn't thought about any of that, in some level; but hearing it from someone else... It feels heavier. Rings true.

It's entirely possible that the reason why Bonnie can't understand, why she can't fathom why Caroline would feel drawn to Klaus, is because Caroline never shared, not even a little bit. This didn't start in Silas' dream. It goes way back. Way before Caroline became a vampire, actually. But Bonnie doesn't _know_. It's possible that all Caroline has to do is open up her mouth, let it all out, and then wait. But an avalanche of emotions is the last thing Caroline needs right now.

And the worst part - the _hard_ part, the part that feels like a thump to the head - is that Bonnie is not wrong. Not completely. She may not have all the facts, but she's done a pretty good assessment of the situation, based on what she knows. And she's also not wrong in saying that Caroline would be the first to point fingers in a situation like this.

Why can't she see it, then? Why is it so hard for her to just let go? It's not like she's _in love_ with Klaus. Right?

She nods her head, aiming for schooled nonchalance, but her week has lasted two and been a hell of a rollercoaster. The cracks in her demeanor are as wide as a trench.

"Just promise me that you'll think about it. And that you won't call him back until you do."

"Ok," she says, her voice a lot less certain than she would've liked.

Still, Bonnie offers her an understanding smile, gives her a quick hug. "Don't forget that I'm here for you," she whispers in Caroline's ear. "I know it doesn't always look like it... Life's crazy in this town. But I am. And I love you."

"I love you, too."

"Good." Bonnie pulls away from her, grabs the yellow dress off the rack. "Now that we've got that covered, I'll go try on the dresses because I still have a prom to attend and no dress. Ok?"

Caroline chuckles. "Yeah. Try the yellow one first so you won't get too biased by the black one."

"It's navy blue, but sure. I'll be right back."

Caroline finds a chair and slumps down on it, suddenly feeling exhausted. She looks down at the phone in her hand and, putting it away in her pocket, she makes a decision.

**TBC**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N 1: Some of you might have noticed that the chapter count has changed. I've decided to shorten the story, not because I'm writing less, but because I'm putting chapters together. This chapter, for instance, was meant to be two separate ones. So only two more chapters and we're done here! :)
> 
> A/N 2: Guys. This is a good time to remind you about the tags about ANGST. THERE WILL BE ANGST AHEAD. I promise you there will be a happy ending, but there are some seriously angsty bits ahead. Just to prepare you because I know some people don't like those parts. You've been warned.
> 
> A/N 3: You might find some mild inconsistencies regarding dates in this story. Please, just ignore them and go with the flow? I'm not holding too dearly to day count and that kind of thing but I promise you it is at least ROUGHLY correct. It's fanfiction, folks! 
> 
> A/N 4: I bet you thought I wouldn't find anything bad to do with this chapter, huh? lol I had loads of fund with this part, but that final part is a bit tricky. So I'm more than ever waiting to hear your thoughts! :)


	14. There's a Power in Letting Go

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I bet you didn't think I'd still be updating this story. Neither did I! :) My muse was on strike for months and months, but she finally returned just enough for me to finish a first draft of the final chapter. So here, have an update!
> 
> **This chapter is ANGSTY AF.** You've been warned. I didn't want to update before I had the finale done because I didn't want to risk abandoning the story at the peak of angst. But I warned you guys before that angst was coming, and here it is. If that's not something you enjoy, then proceed with caution. If you do decide to read, please don't yell at me. I'm giving you a heads up.
> 
> Also, this is the part where I finally go back to canon. It starts on episode 4x19, _Pictures of You_ , and it'll go all the way to the season finale on the next chapter. I won't cover _everything_ , but some major parts will be talked about. I did my best to stay as truthful as possible to the show, but I might be getting certain details wrong here. If that's the case, I am very sorry!
> 
> As always, I remind you all that English is not my first language and this story has not been beta'ed, so I apologize beforehand for all the mistakes you'll surely find. I hope it doesn't ruin the experience for you.
> 
> If there is anyone out there still reading, please let me know! I need all the incentive I can get to wrap up the finale and your comments and support will surely help me get the inspiration I need to have this all done and dusted faster. Your comments mean the world!

* * *

_And then I can tell myself_   
_What the hell I'm supposed to do_   
_And then I can tell myself_   
_Not to ride along with you_

_When the night was full of terrors_   
_And your eyes were filled with tears_   
_When you had not touched me yet_   
_Oh, take me back to the night we met_

 

_"Klaus uses people. You're either an asset or disposable."_

_"He gets rid of them the second they stop being useful."_

For days, Bonnie's voice thunders inside Caroline's head. The second she stops moving, stops bossing people around, stops yelling at someone or calling Rebekah names for sticking her nose where she's not needed or wanted, it starts again.

_"There's a reason immortal people spend their entire lives running away from Klaus."_

Over and over and over. Like having a bad song stuck in your head, but worse.

It even follows her into her dreams when she shuts her eyes at night. Klaus kisses her, tells her he loves her, and then he bites her, pushes her out of a car and leaves her to die on the side of the road. Or he says he'll protect her from everything, never let anybody hurt her, and then he kills her mother. Bonnie. Stefan. Elena. Bodies piling up at his feet, a broad, dangerous smirk on his handsome, blood-smeared face, dementia flaring up behind his golden eyes.

And after every nightmare, Bonnie's voice again.

_"You've seen his weaknesses. His secrets. You've seen him vulnerable. Do you think he's just going to let you walk away?"_

Caroline doesn't answer the phone when Klaus calls, doesn't reply to any of his texts, and after a while, he goes quiet, makes it easy for her to steer clear off him. He's too proud not to realize when he's being deliberately avoided. She's grateful, but not glad. Beggars can't be choosers, she guesses, so she just counts her blessings and tries not to think too much.

Not-thinking is Caroline's favorite mode of being these days.

Between prom, Silas and Elena's evil persona, there's barely any time left to have a life in Mystic Falls these days. Caroline never thought she'd say that, but being trapped in Elena Gilbert's world, for once, is a relief. It gives her an ironclad excuse not to deal with the razored edges of her own issues. Which is normally everything that is wrong with her life; right now, though, it's kind of great.

"What in bloody hell's name do you think you're doing?" Rebekah demands shrilly one day, while she's up on a ladder, fixing the damn fairy lights that other people left askew.

"What do you think?" she replies curtly. "Saving this goddamn prom, of course. It was giving me a stroke to look at these lights."

"No - what are you doing to Nik?"

"I have no idea what you're talking about," she says, doing a good job at schooling her face into perfect nonchalance.

"He's having one of his temper tantrums and it's _lasting_. Now he's fighting me stronger than ever on the cure, and I can only imagine it has something to do with you. He was being almost agreeable before."

"Don't pin your dysfunctional family problems on me. I've got nothing to do with that, so leave me out of it."

Rebekah kicks the ladder, making it spin so Caroline's facing her. She nearly loses her balance, but manages to hold on at the last second.

"Hey!" she snaps. "What the hell?!"

"I'm issuing a warning," Rebekah says, looking straight into Caroline's eyes. "You messed with Nik and now he's worse than ever."

"Oh, right! Because he was such an _angel_ before me. I don't remember your brother ever needing my help to be _terrible_."

"No, but you might've actually made him _better_ , and then you _broke him_. I don't know what you've done, but whatever it was, _fix it_."

Rebekah's words hit Caroline like a blow.

_You broke him._

The ensuing silence is punctuated by the sound of Rebekah's heels as she walks away, her message delivered.

The idea that Caroline would have that kind of influence over Klaus is laughable. She can't _break_ him. No one can. Rebekah is just after a convenient scapegoat for her brother's tempestuous moods.

_Broke him_. Just because she stopped answering his calls? That's just... No. Not possible.

_"How long is he gonna stay captivated? And what happens when he isn't anymore? When you say the wrong thing or you go against him - when you try to stop him? When your interests collide? Then what?"_

If Klaus' reaction to her not calling back for a couple of days is to unleash hell on earth by giving Silas the cure, then what would he do if they'd actually been together? If Caroline had actively tried to frustrate one of his evil world-domination plans?

As painful as it was to hear it, Caroline can't help but think that Bonnie raised some valuable points. She hadn't been looking at the situation objectively. They share an undeniable connection and a chemistry that is like nothing Caroline's ever experienced, but that inexorable gap between them remains unbridged. She was paying attention to all the things that bring them together, when she should've been considering what drives them apart. And the list is endless.

All the stress and pressure of the last week have left her overwhelmed and very confused. She has to let the dust settle, finish this school year, figure out how to stop Silas and then reassess the situation. Until then, she's just going to keep her distance from Klaus. It's the best she can do.

After their auspicious conversation, Bonnie makes herself more present. Caroline doesn't know if it's because she feels guilty about some of the things that were said during their semi-argument, or because she's realized her presence is the best Klaus repellent Caroline could possibly have. It's nice to have her friend again after such a weird time, even if circumstances are still less than favorable, but it's also a bit suffocating. The phone calls and the texts are all very thoughtful, but not-so-subtly designed to remind Caroline that she has _friends_ who are _there for her_ and who are _not Klaus_. Suddenly she has a self-appointed watchdog breathing down her neck and for all the attention she's always craved from her friends, she isn't entirely sure she likes it.

But then prom day arrives and when Caroline stops by the boutique to get her dress, someone else's already taken it. She yells at three different employees before she realizes someone compelled them to hand over the dress and then forget about it. _Someone_ meaning Elena.

Caroline considers going to Rebekah's house, where her former best friend has been staying, and taking her dress back by force if needed be, preferably kicking Elena's backstabbing ass in the process just to teach her a lesson, but that would cost her a precious time she does not have. Not to mention, in the current state she's in, Elena would tear the freaking thing to shreds before she lets Caroline have it. She'd waste her time _and_ leave empty-handed _and_ even angrier than before. Although the part about beating the crap out of Elena still sounds pretty alluring. Maybe a good beating is exactly what she needs to switch her humanity back on.

Sadly, though, _no time_.

Caroline takes a deep, steading breath, and is about to ask the tailor to show her some options when a thought pops up in her head.

It's a stupid idea, _stupid, stupid, stupid_ , but once it takes root, she just knows she won't be able to kill it. She can look through all the prom dresses being sold in the entire state of Virginia, but she's not going to find anything even remotely up to standards. It's not just about getting something as good as the dress Elena stole, which she took _three months_ to find last time; it's about topping a certain dress she wore in New Orleans.

And there's only one place she can go to find a dress like that.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

"Klaus?"

The mansion is eerily quiet, almost completely dark. The distant sound of a fire crackling somewhere inside the only indication that someone's home.

"Klaus!" she tries again, louder this time.

Caroline huffs under her breath, feeling a bit of a sting. Klaus is deliberately ignoring her. She realizes she's got no right to be upset because, technically, she's been ignoring _him_ for a few days now. He's only returning the courtesy. Last time they spoke, she pretty much let the possibility of a date in the air, and then ghosted him. Probably not a blow Klaus' ego is used to taking. She should've expected to be treated with a certain degree of indifference, even straight out antipathy - it's Klaus, after all - but alas, she's still salty. Sue her.

Caroline tilts her chin, face set to determination, and marches down the mansion hallway, chasing the crackling fire. She finds him in the living room, staring at the fireplace.

Caroline doesn't _want_ to care that he's giving her a cold shoulder, doesn't want to get butthurt over something she provoked herself, but she does anyway. And since she can't help caring, she decides to at least try not to show it.

"Hello?" she says. "Did you not hear me?"

"Of course I heard you, Caroline. I think the whole of Mystic Falls did," he retorts, his voice halfway between boredom and irritation.

"Etiquette says it's polite to come greet your visitors, you know."

"I was wondering what could've possibly happened for you to stop avoiding me. Must be quite serious," he says, derision and vitriol biting at his tone.

"I wasn't avoiding you," Caroline counters. It sounds cheap even to her own ears.

Klaus turns to face her, arms crossed over his chest and eyebrows arched in mild curiosity, but the look in his eyes is dark. "How would you call it, then?"

"I'd call it being _busy_ , which is the understatement of the century. In case you haven't noticed, your pal Silas is still out there trying to bring down the veil - something that we, the _good_ guys, are trying to _prevent_. And in the middle of all that madness, I still had a prom to plan. Which is _tonight_."

"Do I rank that low on your list of priorities?" he asks, his lips ghosting into the beginnings of a smile that does not meet his eyes. "That dents my ego."

"I have a _very_ long list of priorities." _Carefully constructed to occupy every second of my day so that I won't spend all my time thinking about you_ , she doesn't add.

"And what brings you to the home of the last item on that immense list of yours, pray tell?"

"I..." Caroline stutters. "Need a favor."

Klaus's mouth twists into a triumphant smile. "Of course you do."

Caroline grunts, feeling embarrassed and found out. It _does_ look bad for her to show up after days of radio silence just to ask for something. But it's not like she can actually tell him that the reason why she's doing it is because she desperately wanted to see him, but didn't think she'd be able to get away with just showing up without a proper excuse.

"Ok. Fine. I admit it. I... low-key avoided you - but only because I really do have a lot going on and you are... Distracting." Klaus cocks her an interested eyebrow. "But it's not like that's even a hard thing to do. Just living my life and going on about my errands and I was already avoiding you. We don't run in the same circles."

"Oh, really?" he derides her.

"Yes, really. I run in the nice people with friends circle, while you run in the... Skanky werewolves circle, probably."

The second the words leave her mouth and a self-satisfied smirk full of dimples show on Klaus' face, Caroline regrets saying it.

It's _not_ that she is still jealous of him. She's just... Still jealous of him.

The idea that Hayley might still be lurking around and that Klaus could've reached out to her to exorcise his frustrations through hot werewolf sex just. Plagued her nights. She didn't even _know_ Hayley had been back in town since the whole hybrid fiasco, or she would've stopped by to return the favor and squeeze that pretty little neck of hers. Not only she had been in Mystic Falls, but she had been with _Klaus_. As a guest of freaking honor, god knows for how long. Caroline doesn't want to know all the details, but the fact there are large gaps in her knowledge of the story means her mind took what it had and ran _really_ far with it. She started wondering if maybe Klaus hadn't put her in a safe house somewhere, under his personal protection to make sure Tyler wouldn't get to her - even though she not only fully deserves Tyler's wrath, but should _also_ get Klaus' because, change of heart or not, she cost him his entire army of brainwashed minions. And if such safe house existed, wouldn't he be stopping by every now and again to check on her with his own eyes? And... Other parts as well?

It drove Caroline _insane_ to think she might've pushed him right back to Hayley. That his silence meant he was with someone else. That she would walk into his home today to find Hayley parading around in one of his Henley's and nothing else.

But obviously that whole paranoia was not something she ever meant to let transpire, especially to him.

Too late now.

"It appears someone is having a hard time getting over the little wolf and it's not me."

" _Little wolf_?" Caroline parrots, hating the bitter edge on her voice. "You two on pet name basis now? Should I save the date?"

Klaus gives her a pointed eye roll. "As much as I would enjoy basking in your irrational bout of jealousy and flatter myself, sweetheart, I'm afraid I am just unbelievably bored by this conversation."

"Agreed. So let's not converse about it because we have more important things to discuss."

"Unfortunately, you've picked a terrible time to decide you're no longer hiding from me. I so happen to not be in the mood for company."

"Well, I'm sorry if you're having _personal issues_ , but I have a real crisis on my hands. Elena stole my prom dress. I went to pick it up and the tailor said that somebody else already did. And when I asked her who, she said she couldn't remember." Klaus stares at her totally blank, clearly not grasping the seriousness of the offense. "Hello? The vervain is out of the town water supply. She was _compelled_."

Klaus bursts into laughter, a sound that connects to some thread of memory and goes straight to her chest. She suddenly feels like every fiber of her body is stretching towards him, filled with affection. But she schools her face into a censuring glare.

"It's not funny," she says measuredly through grit teeth.

Klaus' laugh catches in his throat, and he wheezes out an "I know, I know."

"Then stop laughing. I know prom is not important to you, but it is to me."

"I'm sure that finding another dress is well within your substantial vampire capabilities."

"But I don't want just another dress! I want to look hot," Caroline says, stabbing the air with her hand. "Princess Grace of Monaco hot. So... Could you please go back into your creepy trophy case of family collectibles and dig me out something of royal caliber?" She punctuates her sentence with her sweetest, most friendly smile, designed to hide the wicked of intentions.

Klaus' bad mood seems to dissipate almost instantly as he cracks a smile that lights up his whole face. Caroline can't help the amber of warmth in her gut.

"Follow me."

 

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

 

"Rebekah took a lot of things that were not hers to take when she moved out," Klaus explains, leading Caroline to a room on the second floor of the mansion. "I chose to be the greater sibling and not pick a fight over dresses, of all things. However," he pauses, turning to Caroline with a proud smile, motioning towards a set of huge, beautifully adorned wooden double doors. "She forgot about this. Go ahead."

The doors guard what Caroline could only describe as the walk-in closet of her dreams. "Oh my God," she mutters, wide-eyed. "This closet is bigger than my whole room."

"Not exactly a treasure chest."

"No. _Definitely_ not a chest."

It's like walking into a fancy boutique, and it's not even Klaus' actual closet, just a place where he keeps stuff no one uses. Everything is kept in see-through plastic protection cases, which makes it all seem extremely valuable. Caroline could spend a whole day here inspecting every case and every drawer; it sparks her imagination about the kind of treasure Klaus has in his house. Art pieces, history books, ancient weapons, jewelry...

Unfortunately, though, she's on a clock here, so her curiosity will have to wait. _Focus, Caroline_.

She turns towards the side that seems to house the dresses. There are so many she doesn't even know where to start.

"This is literally my dream closet," she says, flipping through the racks. "How do _you_ have this? Is it a kink?" She narrows her eyes at him. "Did you personally undress all the women who wore these dresses and then kept them as trophies? Is that what I'm looking at here?"

"I'm starting to sense a pattern," Klaus says, his lips curling with mischief. "You seem rather fixated on the details of my past involvements, love."

Caroline scoffs. "As if," she mutters, going back to looking through the closet.

"You don't have to wonder. I can tell you anything you want to know. Or better yet - I could _show_ you. Just say the word and I'll put you out of your misery."

Caroline lets out a bark of laughter. "You are _so_ full of yourself!"

"I'm in a bad mood, but I'm not hard to get at all."

Caroline opens her mouth to reply, but her eyes stop on a champagne-colored strapless dress. She opens the zipper on the plastic case and gasps. " _Wow_." She pulls it out of the rack to have a better look. The thing is _heavy_. It has a mermaid silhouette and the most beautiful embroidery work Caroline has ever seen. A true work of art. "This is unbelievable. Princess Grace of Monaco would _definitely_ approve it. Wait - did she?"

"No. But you have a good eye. I can assure you it has the royal caliber you were looking for."

"Can I try it on?" Klaus motions his hand in a _be my guest_ gesture, to which Caroline cocks him an eyebrow. "And you're just going to stand there like a creep while I change?"

"Well-"

"Don't even try, Klaus."

With a pained sigh, he turns around and leaves, making a show of shutting the closet's doors behind him to give her privacy.

The dress takes a bit of work to get into and she can't shut the tiny, fragile-looking zipper on her own - she's got no idea how old this is, but it definitely looks Hollywood Golden Age vintage, and it might as well be. It's in perfect condition, though, and she has to wonder who exactly takes care of these things for Klaus.

When she turns to look at herself in the mirror, she knows it's the one. It is _perfection_. Much better than the one she picked herself, in fact. Maybe she should thank Elena for giving her an excuse to come peruse through Klaus' collectibles. And yet... As she stares at her reflection, Caroline feels... Off. Like there's something missing.

It might be because she seems so plain and unfit for such a glamorous gown when she's not wearing any make-up, doesn't have any jewelry on and her hair hasn't seen a brush all day. She needs to add some sparkle in the form of nice earrings and maybe a pretty necklace to go with the pearls. But then she realizes - it's not really about the dress, or how she looks in it. What is missing is something else. Something slightly less tangible.

She didn't come to Klaus in search of a gorgeous dress, although she was pretty certain he'd have something; she came in search of a feeling. The same butterflies in her stomach she had wearing the prom dress he sent to her hotel room in New Orleans. That had been an unbelievably gorgeous dress as well, just as pretty as this one, but the sensation had been different. That prom had been different. Everything about that night was unique. Special. _Perfect_.

It finally dawns on her that everything she's been doing since she came back from Silas Land, all the useless trouble she went through to make prom bigger than it was ever supposed to be, greater than just a high school celebration, is because she's chasing the feeling she had on that night at the Mikaelson compound in New Orleans. The cold in her guts right now - it's not from excitement or anticipation; it's fear. Caroline _needs_ reality to be better than a dream manipulation because otherwise... what's the point? What if nothing ever feels as great as a night that wasn't even real? What does it say about her that what should've been the worst, most terrifying moments of her life actually turned out to be much better than anything she's ever experienced? What does it say that a few hours in the company of Klaus were more special than a night with people she's known since before she could walk?

This is meant to be a major milestone. Whatever happens, in ten, fifty or even a hundred years from now, Caroline's certain she'll remember this moment. When she finally said goodbye to her human self; when the teenager that died in that hospital bed was finally put to rest. The world's always ending, everyone's always dying, and yet somehow she made it this far. Dead, but not gone. And now whenever she thinks about it, it's not her friends or family and their insane journey that she's going to remember. It's Klaus. And New Orleans. And a freaking prom that never happened.

Here is this gorgeous man, who gazes at her so lovingly, follows her around as though she's the sole beacon of light in an otherwise world of darkness. He makes her feel light, wanted, understood and accepted just as she is. Through his eyes, she sees a Caroline who's driven, not pushy; strong-willed, not controlling; sharp, not bitchy. She's always the best version of herself when Klaus looks at her. Even when she's failing, wavering, tumbling down. And the thing is - he doesn't _make_ her feel this way; he just _knows_ that she already is all these things. He _recognizes_ it. Caroline's worked hard to overcome fears and insecurities and a whole lot of traumas to get to this point, to feel so at ease in her own skin, comfortable with the monster that lives inside of her, and Klaus acknowledged all that. Even before they slept together, before the first kiss, the plain fact of the attraction made all her pieces fit into place, somehow.

Under any other circumstance, Caroline wouldn't hesitate to take the hand of a man who offers her the world. But he is no ordinary gorgeous man.

He is the devil.

Klaus isn't a reformed evil-doer who's had a change of heart and rediscovered some long lost moral compass through the healing powers of love. He might be in love, but he's still an unrepentant villain who'd never touch a hair on Caroline's head but wouldn't even blink before killing everyone she knows.

"Do you need help?"

She got so deeply lost in thought she didn't even hear him walking in. Caroline meets his gaze through the mirror; there's a predatory look in Klaus' eyes. He smirks, a quirk of lips that goes straight to her underbelly.

Without waiting for her to give permission, he steps closer. Her spine straightens and then curves as he slowly pulls the zipper up, letting his fingers brush against her skin as he does it. Caroline sucks the air in, the room feeling suddenly way hotter than it did a moment before.

"Elena will regret stealing your dress," he murmurs.

"Good," she says. "That's exactly what I was going for."

"You look stunning."

She smiles. "Thank you. I'll take good care of your dress."

"It's yours now."

"What? No. I can't accept this."

"Of course you can."

"This is not just a dress, Klaus, it's... A treasure. I don't know where you got it, but - it's probably worth thousands of dollars."

"True. Nevertheless," he lowers his face to her neck, his eyes fixed on hers through the mirror as his lips brush the skin there. "It will never look as beautiful on anyone else. So what's the point in keeping it?"

Caroline swallows, closes her eyes against the hot flash of want burning inside of her. Every hair on her body stands to attention at Klaus' proximity, begging for more contact, for her to just let go. But Caroline clenches her teeth and wills the feeling away.

"We can't do this," she splutters, disentangling herself from his grip and putting a careful distance between their bodies - not too far, definitely not far enough, but deliberate nonetheless.

Confusion clouds his face. "Why not?"

"I have a speech."

"A speech?"

"Yes. It's a thing I do when I sense something... Awkward, coming. I like to prepare."

"Oh?"

Caroline takes a deep breath and braces herself for argument. "You were right before. I have been avoiding you. And not just because I'm busy, which I am, but... The truth is I didn't know how to tell you what I have to tell you. I didn't just come here because of the dress. This is a lot better than anything I could've found in a day, but... It was an excuse. I wanted to see you."

"You don't need excuses for that."

"But I do. I have to come up with extenuating reasons to make the plain fact that I want to see you justifiable. I have to lie to everyone about where I am, what I'm doing. It's exhausting, Klaus. It can't go on."

"Caroline -"

"No," Caroline cuts him off, gesturing for him to stop. "I have to get this out. What happened while we were trapped in that dream manipulation, it was very intense, and it felt very real. We had our differences, I wanted to _murder_ you a couple of times, but at the end of the day... We relied on each other. At least I did. And I'm glad that you were there and that I wasn't alone. You did more for me than you probably realize. I don't just mean about prom. You kept me grounded, and sane, and believing that there was a way out - even through sheer anger sometimes. I would've lost my mind if it wasn't for you, and I would've definitely never figured anything out if you hadn't been there. I saved your life when I went back for you, but you saved mine too. And I will never forget that, _ever_. But... We can't keep acting like it's not over. We're out now. This is the real world and things aren't the same. Everything is different out here. We're fooling ourselves thinking that it isn't."

Caroline sees a quick stab of hurt flickering across Klaus' eyes before he masks it, but the bitterness in his voice is still evident as he says, "How many times did you have to repeat that nonsense to believe it?"

"It's not nonsense. Whether you agree with it or not, it's the truth. You can't tell me that you haven't thought about it."

"Now why would I waste time with that?"

"Why? _Why_? Do you really have to ask? Look around, Klaus. We're on different sides. _You_ reminded me of that. Just because we had a cease fire for a little while, it doesn't mean anything's changed. We're just as much at odds about what _you_ want and what _I_ want as we've ever been."

"You seem to know me so well. Please, do tell. What is it that you think I want?"

Caroline is quiet for a second. "Everything. You want everything and you want it delivered to you on a silver platter. You want Elena to go back to being human just so you can use her as your personal blood bank on your hybrid breeding farm, but you also want to give the cure to Silas because you want him off your back, and you don't really care about the consequences. You want to murder Tyler because he's dared to cross you, but you don't want to murder Hayley, who mentored him - _on purpose_ \- every step of the way. You want everyone to stop questioning your decisions and your terrible judgement, no matter how selfish or wrong you may be, and bow down to your superior strength. Am I close?"

Klaus' face stills and sets, his lips pressed into an angry line, but he doesn't say anything. It's all the confirmation she needs.

"I just want my friends to be safe and happy," Caroline continues. "I want to live my life and not have to hurt anyone if I can help. I want to finish my senior year and celebrate the fact that I've somehow managed to make it this far. I want a perfect prom dress. I want... An epic love. That's it. It's all I want. For now, anyway. It's... Simple. Mundane. And I don't think it's ever gonna be enough for you."

The words formed in Caroline's mouth and spilled before she could catch them. This conversation was never meant to become emotional; it was supposed to be rational, about cold, hard facts, putting an end to something that should've never even started. She had all the reasonable arguments rehearsed before coming to his home, but, in the end, from all the things that Bonnie said that resonated with her, it's the part about how he'd get tired and then either kill her or erase all her memories that stuck, lodged in her chest.

She sees the exact moment Klaus' irritation hardens into something else. His features are carved deep with an expression, his eyes dark and feral. Just looking at him was like knives and sandpaper.

"Is it wrong to want everything that is rightfully mine?" he starts, his voice deceptively calm as he approaches her again. "Why should I be shy about taking it? I am the strongest creature to ever walk this earth, the _alpha male_ , as you once so cleverly put it. I don't care for petty sentimentalisms and pathetic emotional bonds that do nothing but weaken me, hold me back, prevent me from achieving true greatness." The roughness in his words strikes Caroline raw. But then something changes, softens in the way he's looking at her, so close now she can hear his heart beating as though it was her own. "But I want you, Caroline Forbes.

"I thought you were just another whim. I like beautiful things; I collect them," he says, motioning towards the closet. "You are beautiful, therefore... Just another item on a list. But you kept turning me down, and your spirit, your feistiness, the outrageous defiance... It should've angered me; instead, it made me want you more. I thought I was coveting the thing which was denied to me; it was the challenge that kept me captivated. I thought the infatuation would wear off and go away the moment I was allowed a bite of the forbidden fruit. I was wrong, Caroline. I want you now more than I've ever wanted you before. I want you so much that it drives me _insane_. It makes me question whether having the whole world delivered to me on a silver platter will ever be enough... if I don't have you."

There's a shift in his voice that is hard not to notice. It's almost a snarl, like it is physically painful for him to admit all that, but he sounds absolutely sincere, and for once Caroline doesn't want him to be. Right now, she wishes he would be the same disappointment as the rest of the guys in her life: indifferent, detached and counting down the seconds to leave her behind.

Her stomach turns.

"Why me?" she asks.

"What kind of question is that?"

"An honest one. It makes no sense that you feel like that about me. I'm just... A small town girl who hasn't been anywhere, seen anything. You could have _anyone_. Actresses. Underwear models. Sports Illustrated cover girls. _Princesses_."

"Do you not know me at all, after all this time? Do I really look like I'm interested in the frivolous celebrity type?"

"You may be a thousand years old, Klaus, but you're still a guy. You're _all_ interested in that."

"I _am_ a thousand years old. Which means I've seen millions of women who look exactly the same. Act the same. Even sound the same. Beautiful to look at, but purely ornamental. Not an honest thought in their heads. They're good enough for a few entertaining evenings, some of them even make decent snacks, but not much more."

"You could still have anyone besides that. The greatest thinkers of the world. Or supernatural ones, if that's what you dig. All the vampires, witches, werewolves -"

"Again with that?"

"Doppelgangers."

Klaus scoffs. "Elena Gilbert?"

"Well, why not? Everyone else is madly in love with her."

"A blindly stupid girl with a martyr complex? This isn't even the most interesting version of the doppelganger I've met, and none of them were all that remarkable to begin with."

"That doesn't answer my question."

Klaus is quiet for a second. He lifts a hand to her cheek, takes a moment to give her the chance to either slap him away or deflect his touch. She knows she shouldn't let him touch her, shouldn't even let him come this close, but she doesn't stop him.

"I wish you would see yourself the way I do, Caroline," he says, tracing the line of her face, all the way to her jaw. A tender touch that sends a jolt through Caroline's body. "You're stronger than you know. Fiercely brave. Too brave for your own good, if I may say. You're not ashamed of who you are, make no excuses for the fact that you fully enjoy your nature. And yet... You refuse to let the darkness within take the best of you. I can tell you from experience that this is not a battle many people win. The temptation is too great, rewards far easier if you just give in. But you light up everything around you, and I just... Ache to touch you. To bask in the warmth of your light." Caroline feels her mouth go dry as Klaus lets his hands slide down her arm. "It angers me, how you cloud my judgement, make me second-guess myself and question my deepest-rooted beliefs, all of my plans... What would Caroline think? What would Caroline say? Sometimes I can hear your voice, berating me. _I hate that._ And yet." Klaus' hand settles on the small of her back, pulling her slightly into him. A luminous, traitorous feeling spreads all through Caroline's chest. "You make me want to take the whole world, just so I can give it to you. To make you mine. All your smiles, all your hopes, your dreams, all your thoughts and your..." His lips brush against hers, placing feather-like kisses on the corner of her mouth as he says, "... darkest desires. Mine. _That_ is what I want."

His words knock the air out of Caroline's lungs and wipe the carefully constructed objection completely from her mind. Caroline leans into him, studying his full lips, remembering the exact taste of him. A memory that plagues her wildest dreams, the fiery ones that fill her head at night and leave her reeling.

His mouth parts slightly, and Caroline can feel the ghost of his breath on her skin. It's only too easy to give in, permitting herself to be manipulated when he kisses her, parting her lips before Klaus' questing tongue. It's easy to kiss back, to grab the front of his shirt with a desperate grip, like she never wants to let go. It's easy because she loves the smell of him and the taste of him and in some dark corner of her mind she wonders whether there's anyone else in the world who's ever gonna make her feel this lit up, or if Klaus is going to be it. The basis of all comparison, of memory and desire, from now until the end of eternity.

And then something snaps, and she pulls away, putting a safe distance between them again. She inhales deeply, her heart thumping in her chest. "This is not fair," she mutters, still trying to catch her breath.

"I don't play fair, love."

"We can't do this," she blurts out.

Klaus sneers. "You have to let go of your worldly life, Caroline. You're not just a small town girl anymore. You're an immortal. Old rules no longer apply. I thought you would've learned that by now. Broaden your horizons, look beyond. You'll wither to death if you don't free yourself from these pesky human boundaries. All this light you have, this _passion_ , it'll burn out."

" _You_ should've realized by now that these pesky human boundaries are exactly why I am the way I am," she snaps back. "You can't say you like me and not appreciate that. I'm not letting go of my life, or my friends, or my family, for _anyone_. And that includes you."

Klaus narrows his eyes studiously. "They're making you choose."

"No one's making me choose. But yes, there is a choice to be made. And _I'm_ the one who's making it. I can't pretend that everything that came before never happened, or that you're someone different now, because you're not."

"Look at me," he snarls, a look of such fierceness in his eyes that she's momentarily taken aback. "Look into my eyes."

"I'm on vervain, you can't compel me."

"If I wanted to compel you, I would've done that a long time ago. I want your honesty. Look at me and tell me you feel nothing," he hisses between his teeth, more desperate than he's probably ready to admit.

The intensity in his gaze is scorching, but Caroline doesn't waver. She wants so badly to believe him, but then his voice rings in her head, loud, clear and sharply painful.

_"Just because I made a few concessions on your behalf, Caroline, it does not mean I'm human. I let you have your way because you amuse me. But do not fool yourself into thinking that I would not revoke your privileges the second you become a nuisance."_

It's not just about what he _might_ do, or what _could_ happen. It's also about the things he's already said and done, and the fact that Klaus is mercurial and impulsive, and however honest he might be today, tomorrow everything could be different.

Something's got to give, and soon, in this battle of wills of theirs, and Caroline knows it can't be her. Not when Klaus continues to be a threat to everyone she knows.

It's convenient for him to ignore the past, but Caroline knows they have no future. However impossible it might be to look at him and not want to touch him, to kiss him, it's also impossible not to remember all the evil he's already done, all the lives he's unrepentantly destroyed, the people he's hurt. Her people.

"This isn't a fairy tale where you can just snap your fingers and mend everything," she says. "I've made my decision, and I'm not backing down."

A shadow crosses Klaus' face, mouth pulled down in a frown, and for a second Caroline thinks this is it. This is the moment Bonnie was talking about, when he decides she's not worth keeping around after all; if he can't have her, then no one else will. She can almost feel his teeth sinking into her neck, the memory of the werewolf venom burning through her as it enters her bloodstream as vivid as ever. But then he withdraws from her, takes a step back.

Klaus looks at her with a hard shield in his eyes. "Very well," he says, his tone sharp and cold. "Enjoy the prom of your dreams, Caroline. You can show yourself out."

She opens her mouth to reply, but there's no time. Klaus draws a line under the conversation and simply brushes past her, disappearing through the door.

For some reason Caroline thought this would be easier. She definitely didn't expect to feel like a portion of her soul was falling away. It's _Klaus_ , for God's sake. Sure, they had a connection and were certainly having some fun, but it wasn't supposed to mean anything. It wasn't supposed to _hurt_.

The moment she leaves the mansion and walks back to her car, Caroline misses him. It's pathetic, really, because it was _her_ decision to put an end to whatever it is that they were doing. As alluring as Klaus may be - and she's finally ready to admit that he is - he's not her all and all. He _can't_ be. There are a thousand reasons why she should run away screaming, and only a handful why she should stay. Somehow, the latter feel very heavy right now.

Caroline feels sick with a sentiment she can't quite name, an odd stillness in her chest. But it will go away, she tells herself. She'll go home, get ready for prom and have the time of her life with her best friends, which will remind her exactly why this whole Klaus thing is absolutely insane. She can't have her friends, the people she loves the most in the world, and the original hybrid who ruined their lives over and over again.

It's the right choice. The _only_ choice. It has to be.

 

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

 

Prom _sucks_.

Everything is beautiful. People seem to be having a genuinely good time. Matt and Bonnie are sure having a blast and look so annoyingly perfect together that Caroline will be surprised if they don't get crowned king and queen by the end of the night. Caroline looks drop-dead _gorgeous_ in her million dollar dress, gaining looks and comments from everyone.

"Oh my _God_ , Caroline," Bonnie says slack-jawed when she sees her. "Where did you get this dress?"

She smiles. "Just some old thing I found in a vintage shop."

The only person she tells about the origin of the dress is Stefan, because she _had_ to tell someone the truth or else she'd feel like a criminal for wearing a dress whose previous ownership she had to conceal, and Stefan felt like the safer choice.

"You know you have him wrapped around your little finger, right?"

_If I had him wrapped around my little finger, I'd convince him to stop trying to give Silas the cure and maybe quit being such a homicidal bastard,_ is what she wants to say. What comes out instead is, "If I had Klaus wrapped around my finger I'd be here with Tyler right now." It's not entirely a lie - she really wishes Tyler could be here tonight; it's his prom too, he deserved to enjoy it with the rest of them, and the reasons why he can't are sad and awful. She just leaves out the part where she's not entirely sure he's the one she's missing the most.

Despite how nearly perfect everything turns out, Caroline can't seem to enjoy herself, not even a little bit.

Elena is doing her best to bring the mood down, and even though Caroline's certain she got an upgrade with her new dress, she would've seriously snapped her friend's neck in front of the whole school if Stefan hadn't stepped in. The satisfaction it would give her to wipe the smugness off Elena's face...

If Elena was everything that's wrong with Caroline's evening, however, that would be fine. It's far from it. Elena might not even be the _worst_ part. Caroline thought tonight was all she needed to get a certain hybrid - the _wrong_ hybrid - out of her head. Glamming up for the evening, some friendly banter, great music and the joy of knowing she really outdid herself as head of the prom committee, even if she had to tolerate Rebekah's annoying contributions, which do not look all that terrible, after all. Not that she'll ever tell Rebekah that, of course.

Tonight was supposed to be a celebration of life. Of everything they overcame to be here. _Pictures of you_ wasn't just a plot to help jog Elena's humanity back to life. It was about all of them. Remember what we went through, honor the ones that were lost, know where we are now and be proud.

Caroline expected to feel like a grown up tonight. This part of her life - school, cheerleading squad, boyfriend drama - is over, or nearly over, anyway. It was tough, it didn't always look like she'd make it, but she came out the other side more or less in one piece, and definitely stronger than before. And now on to the future. Except right now she doesn't feel like a grown up at all. She smiles for show, thanks everyone who comes up to her to say she looks beautiful or to thank her for her efforts in throwing the best prom ever, but in her heart, all she wants is to curl up into a ball and cry.

All she sees when she looks around is a courtyard in New Orleans, covered in fairy lights and crystal chandeliers, and all she remembers when she sees her colleagues dancing is the way Klaus' hand burned on the small of her back as he pulled her into him and spun her around like a pro, and all she knows is that, no matter how beautiful it all is, it's not the same.

This is not the prom of her dreams.

If it was, she'd definitely not end up commiserating with Damon Salvatore.

"If anyone asks, I'll be at the after party," she tells him, deciding that there's nothing to be salvaged from the wreck that is her evening. She might as well just go where the booze is.

She halts in front of the screens outside as a photograph of her, Elena and Bonnie on freshman year comes up. They'd just joined the cheerleading squad and were wearing their uniforms for the first time. It wasn't that long ago, but it feels like a lifetime already. If only the girls on the photo knew what was in store for them... Elena and her kind, doe eyes, before loss and grief became a constant companion; Bonnie with that bright, infectious smile that is so rare these days; and her, so proud of herself for making the squad, already projecting becoming captain by the end of sophomore year.

That girl wanted nothing more than to feel accepted. To be popular in school, date the quarterback, have all straight As and take all the leading parts in the school's musicals. It sounds all so fickle now, so stupid. But she kind of misses the old days, in a way. She has matured a lot since then, grown a thicker skin, become a more confident and all-around better person. A better friend, a better daughter and even a better girlfriend, although she'd argue that her boyfriends hardly deserved all the dedication they got from her. Still... That girl did not have problematic feelings for a psychopath.

Right about now, it would feel like such a relief to care about nothing more than who gets to be crowned prom queen.

 

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

 

Caroline's first reaction upon seeing Tyler when she arrives at the Lockwood mansion is _Oh no_.

He's looking all dapper in a tux, holding a bouquet, smiling like sunshine, and her first thought is _Oh no_.

She's a monster. A fraud. She hasn't seen him in months; he could've been dead or hurt or in deep trouble, and what she should feel is _relief_. _Joy_. Instead, all she's got is _Oh no_.

_Oh no_ , he'll know I've slept with Klaus.

_Oh no_ , he'll never forgive me.

_Oh no_ , I'm going to break his heart.

_Oh no_ , I don't think I'm in love with him anymore.

It does not help that the first thing he says to her sounds extremely familiar, and not in a good way.

"You've never looked more beautiful."

Caroline swallows down hard, those same words ringing in her head in a different accent. It's exactly what Klaus told her in New Orleans. It makes her cringe.

She purses her lips and then runs to him, wrapping her arms around his shoulders so he won't see the guilt bright as day light on her face.

And that's when reality hits and she realizes what it means, him being here. What could happen to him if -

"You can't be here. Klaus -"

"Can't get in. Matt owns this place now. He had to invite me inside."

"But if Klaus finds out -"

"He won't."

Tyler's probably right, but still she can't help but feel like they are playing with fire, defying someone who's not only dangerous but, at the present moment, also hurt, probably. Personally hurt. By her. It's not like she can share the news with Tyler - _"Hey, guess what happened while you were away, running for your life?"_ \- but there is more than enough cause for concern.

She looks at him ready to tell him to go, to run away as fast as he can and not turn back, but... He seems so happy. So glad to be there. Probably spent weeks planning this. Tonight was supposed to be his senior prom, too. They've all suffered great tragedy in the last few years, but no one has endured as much as Tyler has. His life was completely shattered. He doesn't even have a home to go back to anymore. No family, no friends, no girlfriend... He's alone in the world. And yet, he was willing to risk his own safety just to be here tonight. He probably meant it as a gift, which is incredibly thoughtful, but... It must mean a lot to him as well. Maybe more. How can she tell him to leave?

Caroline closes her eyes and tries not to think as a slow song starts to play. Dancing with Tyler is easy. It's familiar and comfortable. She used to think that being in love with a werewolf-turned-hybrid was complicated, but the last few weeks have put everything under perspective. Maybe if she'd known then what she knows now, things could've been different for them. They would've realized that half the problems they thought they had could be easily sidestepped and overcome by having just a little bit more patience and being a little bit more persistent. They could've fought harder for their relationship.

And now here they are, months after he was forced to flee Mystic Falls, trying to rekindle their romance. It's sweet, and she's glad to be with him tonight, to know that he's ok, because the best part of her senior year was spent worried sick for him and daydreaming about their perfect prom night, when they would, theoretically, get rid of all the Mikaelson drama once and for all and leave _together_. But.. It's just not the same.

Some fundamental part of what constituted her feelings for Tyler is missing. A light has gone out. She waited _so long_ for this moment, and yet... When she wasn't looking, while life was following its crazy course, she fell out of love with him. Maybe even before he had to leave, if she's being completely honest. Things hadn't been the same since he came back from the mountains. She still cares for him, deeply, but... it's just different.

She wonders idly if the only way she'll ever know how to be happy is in the expectation - waiting for Tyler to come home, for her perfect prom, for someone who's going to love her unconditionally. Somehow the realization never quite lives up.

When Tyler leans his forehead against hers and whispers that he's missed her, that he's thought of her every single day, guilt throbs in her chest. All Caroline can think of is how hard she had to fight herself not to surrender to Klaus just this afternoon; how she spent the whole night counting all the ways in which her actual prom was a disappointment compared to the one she had in Silas' dream; how she's still doing that, even now, remembering how she had butterflies in her stomach as she waltzed with Klaus but now feels nothing but fear for Tyler's life.

There's a myriad of emotions racing through her, but when Tyler says he has to leave, it's relief that takes over. The longest she spends next to him, the more exposed she feels. Caroline avoids looking him in the eye, keeps herself pressed flush against him and doesn't tell him about Silas when he asks what she's been up to lately. _"Oh, you know. Just prom committees and trying not to kill Elena."_ Lying is not one of her strongest suits.

Technically, they aren't together anymore. They broke up when Tyler left and she told him in no uncertain terms that he should move on with his life, find someone else and be very happy - all choked up and teary-eyed, yes, but she meant every word. And that's exactly what she thought he'd done. That he'd cut all ties with his past. He even stopped answering to her calls and replying to her messages, which proved that he was way better than her at breaking up. So it's fair to say that she's single now, however complex her situation may be. But still the word _cheater_ flashes in her mind. Caroline's certain Tyler would agree if he knew.

She's sad to see him go. Maybe he's already started to build a life for himself somewhere else. Maybe he even has someone waiting for him. Caroline hopes that's the case, with all her heart. Tyler shouldn't be alone. But she can't help the relief that washes through her when he shuts the door behind him. The faster he leaves, the farther away from Klaus' vindictive wrath he gets, the safer he'll be - and the less he'll know about the truth.

 

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

 

As she sets up the food and the booze, waiting for the rest of the gang to arrive for the after party, Caroline makes a decision. Whatever this thing she has for Klaus is, it ends today. No more thinking about him, no more feeding the beast. They formed a partnership of sorts out of necessity. That's over now. He helped her, she helped him; they're even. They can go back to their usual passive-aggressiveness and leave it at that. Her feelings for Klaus are dangerous. Someone could seriously get hurt because she allowed herself to care for the devil, and that she won't allow.

Caroline checks the time; people should be arriving any minute now. She pops open the champagne, saving the tequila for when things get tougher - as they surely will - as the night progresses and puts on an upbeat Taylor Swift song to get her out of her gloominess.

An hour later, still all by herself, finishing the first bottle of champagne not even bothering with flutes anymore, she realizes something's wrong.

"Matt, where are you? I'm drinking all by myself here. This is supposed to be an _after_ party, not a pity party."

"Yeah, Care, about that..." Matt starts on the other end and she already knows she won't like it. "I think I'm gonna be a little late. Some stuff happened after you left, and... I'm not sure anyone else is gonna show up."

" _What_?"

Matt proceeds to tell her about how Elena attacked Bonnie, which prompted Bonnie to almost kill Elena, and then the Salvatores had to carry her unconscious body home. "But before that," he adds, "Elena actually tried to kill April. Rebekah healed her, but - it was pretty bad. I took her home and then I went back to see what happened to everyone else and - Rebekah is balling her eyes out here. Something about Klaus."

"Klaus?" Caroline asks, not missing a beat. "Klaus was there?"

"I didn't see him, thank God, but I think he was. She's saying he gave Silas the cure because she healed April."

"Wait - what? What do you mean, he gave Silas the cure?"

"I don't know. I didn't catch the details."

Caroline curses under her breath. Maybe she should've started with the tequila. "I can't believe that."

"I think I'm gonna stick around for a little longer. I'm the one who begged Rebekah to give her blood to April. She's pretty distraught now."

"But... But... It's _our_ prom," Caroline whines with a lot less fire than it would probably take to convince Matt to ditch Rebekah just to keep her company. She isn't sure that just the two of them would make up for a much better celebration, but two is still better than one.

"I'm sorry."

Caroline sinks down on the couch, a kind of weary resignation settling on her. "Fuck."

"Did you see Ty, at least?"

"Yeah, he was here just now."

"That's good, right?"

"Yeah. Great," she says, with not as much excitement as Matt was probably expecting. "But he left."

"I'll try to be home as soon as I can."

"Whatever. Just do whatever you have to. Doesn't matter anymore."

"Care -"

"It's ok, Matt. Really."

"I'm sorry."

"Not your fault. I'll be fine."

Caroline hangs up and contemplates the tequila. "I guess it's just you and me now."

 

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

 

The plan was to get as shitfaced as possible, until this evening became nothing but a blur. A challenge, considering her naturally high tolerance for alcohol and the whole vampirism thing. But after the third shot, she starts getting restless. So she ties her hair up in a haphazard ponytail, gets a pair of gloves and an apron, and gets to cleaning.

It's not the easiest of tasks, what with her mermaid dress and all, but she didn't bring any spare clothes, so it'll have to do. All the canapés and the finger food she prepared have gone stale after such a long time on the kitchen island, so she just takes the whole thing and dumps it in the trash can. She collects the paper cups and the empty bottles, some of which Matt had been hoarding for weeks, and takes everything out the back of the house.

A flash of movement startles her out of her tasks.

Klaus, standing in the middle of the Lockwood's gigantic back yard like a ghost.

At first she thinks she's seeing things, that she had more to drink than she realized. Her mind isn't clear, it's racing and throbbing and hallucinating. She presses her eyes shut for a moment, trying to defog her thoughts, expecting he'll be gone when she looks again, but he's still there, impassive and unmoving at the exact same spot, as though conjured by sheer force of will. Caroline thought so long and so hard about him all night that he simply materialized there.

Her legs twitch with the need to run to him, like iron fillings towards a magnet, all that ironclad resolve to get over him melting away in the blink of an eye. But then it hits her.

_Tyler_.

Caroline feels all the color draining out of her face, her throat constricting all of a sudden. Why else would Klaus be here in the middle of the night if not for Tyler?

She takes off her gloves and apron and leaves it aside as she approaches tentatively, scrutinizing him in search of blood specs or suspicious stains or bruises - anything indicating that he has just come out of a brawl. There's nothing obvious jumping the eye, though. Klaus looks perfectly put together, not a single hair out of place.

"Klaus," she starts, stops. Her mouth feels dry as skittish anticipation blends with dread. "Please, tell me you didn't... _Please_."

"Tyler is a fool if he thought he could ever set foot in Mystic Falls without me sensing his stench the second he arrived," he says, his face totally inscrutable, his voice betraying no emotion whatsoever.

Caroline feels something build up in her, like fury or the biggest sense of disappointment. How could she ever think he would change? How could she ever believe that there was something _good_ in him, something worth saving? She feels her eyes burning with tears, her nails digging into the palms of her hands.

"He was just trying to surprise me," she says with exasperation. "Tonight was supposed to be his prom, too. This was his house. You had no right -"

"Don't waste your breath, love. The fool lives."

Caroline blinks. "What?"

"He truly is even more of an imbecile than I took him for, and his little act of defiance deserved suitable punishment. But I let him go with a warning. He's probably halfway to Tennessee by now."

"You... You let him go?"

"Not because he deserved it. But somehow I didn't think the night of your dreams ended with your boyfriend being skinned alive."

Caroline chokes out a sobbing breath, her shoulders sagging in relief. If anything had happened to Tyler - if _Klaus_ had done anything to him... Caroline shakes her head a little, trying to brush off the idea. She doesn't think she'd ever be able to live with herself.

"Did you have it?" Klaus asks.

"Did I have what?"

"The night of your dreams. Perfect prom, perfect dress, perfect date," he says, something bitter in the way he punctuates his sentence.

Caroline presses her lips into a tight line, unable to meet his gaze - not because she's embarrassed, but because she's afraid he will, as always, see right through her, catch all the seams in her façade. He thought he was giving her the night of her dreams with someone else and she spent most of the time thinking about him.

"If you're not here for Tyler, then why are you here?" she asks, a cold edge in her voice as she attempts to steel her nerves.

Something visibly softens in Klaus, even his posture seems to slack a little, and Caroline's eyebrows bunch in confusion at the sudden change. He'd looked murderous and sour just a second before. The grim man who'd walked out on her just this afternoon seems to have vanished with the sun.

"You're a vision, Caroline," he says, his lips curling up into an almost smile. "I wanted to see you one last time."

"If you like this dress so much, I can give it back. It'll take a bit of work to hand-wash it, but it'll look as good as vintage-new."

"The dress is yours."

"Then what do you mean, see me one last time?"

Klaus is quiet for a moment. There's something sad about the way he looks at her, like a projected distance, and Caroline is suddenly certain that she's missing something important here.

"One last time, before I go," he finally answers.

"Go? Go where?"

"To New Orleans."

Caroline's stomach tightens. "You're going to New Orleans? When?"

"Tonight."

"Wha-what?" she stutters. "What are you gonna do there?"

"I'm not entirely sure myself. Don't know what I'll find. I suppose I have some reckoning to do."

"How long will you be gone?"

A look passes across Klaus' face, and she would've called it sadness if she didn't know any better.

"I don't intend to come back," he finally says, and Caroline feels a slow, sick lurch in her guts, a cold in her belly as though she were falling.

"You... You're..." Caroline starts, stops, her voice cracking. "Leaving? For good? Why?"

"Silas reminded me that, with Mikael gone, there's nothing keeping me from going back anymore. And then tonight... I got the most curious letter, about something of my utmost interest cooking up in the French Quarter. You could say the Big Easy came calling."

Caroline's chest tightens, sudden and sharp, but she does her best to hide the sting. Men like Klaus are built to notice things that others try to hide, and she isn't even doing a particularly good job. She crosses her arms over her chest defensively, tilting her chin.

"What did that letter say?" she asks. "What kind of thing is happening there?"

"That's what I'm going to find out."

"That's it? Someone writes you an enigmatic letter and suddenly you're packing your bags to leave?"

"It's been a hundred years. I think it's about time I return."

"Well, you can't," Caroline says hotly, trying and failing to keep the exasperation out of her voice. "You can't go now. We're in the middle of a major crisis here, fighting a truly unkillable 2000 years old crazy-in-love psychic vampire who wants to destroy the whole world if that's what it takes for him to die, and _you_ just gave him the key to it."

"I gave him nothing."

"That's not what Rebekah said."

"Rebekah and I had a deal with Elijah and, just as I predicted, she couldn't keep her part. It's her own fault she lost the cure."

"I have no idea what kind of deal the two of you made, but if it meant she couldn't save April's life, then it was a crappy deal and she was right to break it."

Klaus smiles darkly. "It was very noble of her. But she knew exactly what it meant. If she truly wanted to be human, she should've acted like one and stood aside while someone called the paramedics and let the poor girl bleed to death."

"Humans _care_ about other people, they show kindness and empathy and that's exactly what Rebekah did tonight. She was a _good_ person and you punished not only her for it, but the rest of us all. And you're just going to walk away? Wash your hands like it's not your problem anymore?"

"It was never my problem. I got unfortunately caught up in it, but I don't see how it concerns me."

"How can you be so selfish? Do you really not care about anyone but yourself? What about all the people in this town? What about us? What about - what about _me_?" Caroline's going for fierce and raging, but her voice is too high and her eyes too bright. She feels panic rising in her, this huge fear that something awful is about to happen and she won't be able to stop it. She would like to think that it's Silas getting his hands on the cure, but she knows it's not.

"Give yourself some credit, Caroline. I believe you and the rest of Mystic Falls' merry band of misfits are perfectly capable of solving the situation. This is hardly the worst you've ever faced. You stood up to Silas yourself for a much lesser cause, and won."

"What if I can't win again? What if whatever comes out of the other sides kills me?"

The inscrutable expression on Klaus' face wavers, and for a moment that cold detachment of his disappears, his eyes glinting with energy. His voice is steady, assured, as he says, "You'll be fine."

"You don't know that."

"I believe that."

Caroline feels a cold, raw hurt spreading through her chest, smothering the fight in her. "Do you really not care?" she asks, sounding kind of airy, on the edge of being choked.

Klaus closes the space between them, so close now that Caroline has to make an effort to fight down the urge to wrap her arms around him and physically stop him from leaving. His expression smooths into something softer, though there's a fiery determination in his eyes as he says, "Give me a reason why I shouldn't go."

"I just gave you tons of reasons."

"No," he says, shaking his head. "Those were excuses, not reasons. Say the word, Caroline, and I'll stay. But you have to say it."

Klaus' eyes rove her face, searching, desperate to see. Caroline feels completely out of her depth, her mind racing as she is filled with a panic she can't name. Her brain throws words at her to tell Klaus - _Don't go because I want you to stay. Because we can't defeat Silas without you. Because the thought of letting you walk away right now is killing me. Because I can't stop thinking about you. Because I need you. Please, please don't go._ But then Bonnie's voice is thundering inside her head again, and she's remembering Tyler, who could've died just for coming home, for daring to come near her. With a sinking feeling, Caroline _knows_ that she can't tell him what he wants to hear. What she wants to say.

All her life, all Caroline wanted was for someone to put her first, to choose her. Time and time again, that's what Klaus has done. He chose her over his sister, over hard-feelings and revenge, over his own safety even. And he's ready to do it again now, choose her over New Orleans. All he wants if for her to do the same.

The overwhelming silence becomes too loud with the sound of all the things she can't say, the sound of her own heart, beating in an off-set rhythm. This, Caroline thinks, is what a heartbreak feels like. When you finally get something you've always wanted, and you can't imagine anything more awful.

For a few heartbeats she just stares at him before her face crumples and tears wells up in her eyes. She shakes her head, then, hunching her shoulder and looking down. "Klaus, I can't," she says, words snagging in her throat.

After what feels like minutes, eons, fingers touch Caroline's face, and she doesn't jerk away, willing her searing tears back in. "Look at me, Caroline," Klaus demands, and Caroline raises her eyes to him. She's not sure what Klaus sees in them, but she knows what's in her mind in that moment: weariness, longing, memories of horrible things Klaus' done and a few wonderful ones that fill her chest with warmth. Sorrow. Normally she would do her best to cover it up, always afraid of letting her guard down in front of him. The mass of feelings inside her are too tangled to unravel, but suddenly all she wants is for him to _see it_ , the things she can't say, the pain she can't name.

"It's all right, love," he says, softly, tracing the line of her face all the way to her jaw. Caroline leans into his touch, so close now that Klaus' breath tingles at her mouth. "You'll be fine, Caroline. I wouldn't leave if I didn't believe that."

"That's not why."

Klaus smiles, cupping her face with his hands. "I want you to be happy. You deserve to get everything you want in life."

"I can't have everything I want," she says, the words a cough.

Klaus gives her a look that is filled with a comprehension that she doesn't think anyone else would ever share. He slides a hand to the back of her neck and places a kiss on her forehead, warm and earnest. Caroline closes her eyes, feeling more tears trickling from beneath her lids.

"It's not our time yet," he mouths against her skin. "But maybe one day."

For the briefest of moments, Caroline can pretend that everything's gonna be ok, that that gut-wrenching feeling, like a hand balled around her stomach, isn't killing her. But then there's a whoosh and Klaus' warmth is gone. She doesn't have to open her eyes to know he left. That she's not going to see him again. Not for a long time, anyway. And then a sense of grief falls over her, surrounding her like rain.

She wanted to ask Klaus how it is possible that something so random, so wrong, can make her crumble on the inside like this. But the truth is she already knows the answer.

Sobs start quaking her chest and she can't hold it back anymore, can't keep the tears from free-falling down her face.

Caroline draws a sharp, hoarse breath, feeling something rattle in her chest, until her sobs become hitching gasps and stop. For a moment she stands quiet, unmoving. But then it's gone. She feels distant, not completely whole, but clear, and suddenly she knows what she has to do.

Klaus is gone, and he is not coming back, and Caroline needs to let this insane, absurd love die. For good.

 

**TBC**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So! Thoughts? :) I'd very much like to know whether anyone's still into this. 
> 
> Before anybody asks because I know some of you will, no, there will be no magical baby, Hayley never got pregnant here, she has nothing to do with why Klaus is going back to New Orleans. Don't worry about it.
> 
> Thanks very much for reading! :)


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